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/ every now and then took a little voyage upon the sea 


WINDERMERE EDITION 


The Life and Adventures of 

ROBINSON CRUSOE 


By 

DANIEL DEFOE 


RAND McNALLY & COMPANY 

Publishers 


CHICAGO 


NEW YORK 


Copyright, 1914 . 

By Rand, McNally & Co. 




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THE ILLUSTRATIONS 


I every now and then took a little voyage upon the sea . Frontispiece 

Facing Page 

Our ship being disabled , and three of our men killed and eight 

wounded , we were obliged to yield 30 , 

He then got up upon three legs , and gave the most hideous roar 

that ever I heard 42 , 

With this cargo I put to sea 70 / 

I made me a table and a chair 92 . 

Having no victuals to eat , I killed a she-goat 114 v 

I employed myself in making a great many baskets . . . . 140 • 

I wanted no sort of earthenware for my use 158 

I stood like one thunderstruck , or as if I had seen an apparition . 198 
I must confess to you that I made more haste out than I did in . 226 
At last he lays his head flat upon the ground , close to my foot , and 

sets my other foot upon his head 262 

Nor can I tell , to this day , what wood to call the tree we cut down . 288 

I went to him and gave him a handful of raisins 304 

Then they came all close in a ring, and fired a volley of their small 

arms 330 

I gave them the whole history of the place 348 

il What , you no come farther f Pray you, come farther ” . . . 370 

7 



ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I was bom in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a 
good family, though not of that country, my father being 
a foreigner, of Bremen, who settled first at Hull; he 
got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his 
trade, lived afterward at York; from whence he had 
married my mother, whose relations were named Robin- 
son, a very good family in that country, and from whom 
I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but, by the usual 
corruption of words in England, we are now called, 
nay, we call ourselves, and write our name, Crusoe; 
and so my companions always called me. 

I had two elder brothers, one of whom was lieuten- 
ant-colonel to an English regiment of foot in Flanders, 
formerly commanded by the famous Colonel Lockhart, 
and was killed at the battle near Dunkirk against the 
Spaniards. What became of my second brother I never 
knew, any more than my father or mother did know 
what was become of me. 

Being the third son of the family, and not bred to 
any trade, my head began to be filled very early with 
rambling thoughts; my father, who was very ancient, 
had given me a competent share of learning, as far as 
house education and a country free school generally 
goes, and designed me for the law; but I would be satisfied 
with nothing but going to sea; and my inclination to 
this led me so strongly against the will, hay, the com- 
mands, of my father, and against all the entreaties and 
persuasions of my mother and other friends, that there 


9 


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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


seemed to be something fatal in that propension of 
nature, tending directly to the life of misery which 
was to befall me. 

My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious 
and excellent counsel against what he foresaw was my 
design. He called me one morning into his chamber, 
where he was confined by the gout, and expostulated 
very warmly with me upon this subject. He asked me 
what reasons, more than a mere wandering inclination, 
I had for leaving my father’s house and my native 
country, where I might be well introduced, and had 
a prospect of raising my fortune by application and 
industry, with a life of ease and pleasure. He told me 
it was men of desperate fortunes on one hand, or of 
aspiring, superior fortunes on the other, who went abroad 
upon adventures, to rise by enterprise, and make them- 
selves famous in undertakings of a nature out of the 
common road; that these things were all either too far 
above me or too far below me; that mine was the middle 
state, or what might be called the upper station of low 
life, which he had found by long experience was the 
best state in the world, the most suited to human hap- 
piness, not exposed to the miseries and hardships, the 
labor and sufferings of the mechanic part of mankind, 
and not embarrassed with the pride, luxury, ambition, 
and envy of the upper part of mankind. He told me 
I might judge of the happiness of this state by this one 
thing, viz., that this was the state of life which all other 
people envied; that kings have frequently lamented 
the miserable consequence of being born to great things, 
and wished they had been placed in the middle of the two 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


n 


extremes, between the mean and the great; that the 
wise man gave his testimony to this, as the just standard 
of, true felicity, when he prayed to have neither poverty 
nor riches. 

He bade me observe it, and I should always find 
that the calamities of life were shared among the upper 
and lower part of mankind; but that the middle station 
had the fewest disasters, and was not exposed to so many 
vicissitudes as the higher or lower part of mankind; 
nay, they were not subjected to so many distempers 
and uneasinesses, either of body or mind, as those were 
who, by vicious living, luxury, and extravagances on 
one hand, or by hard labor, want of necessaries, and 
mean or insufficient diet on the other hand, bring dis- 
tempers upon themselves by the natural consequences 
of their way of living; that the middle station of life was 
calculated for all kind of virtues and all kind of enjoy- 
ments; that peace and plenty were the handmaids of 
a middle fortune; that temperance, moderation, quiet- 
ness, health, society, all agreeable diversions, and all 
desirable pleasures, were the blessings attending the 
middle station of life; that this way men went silently 
and smoothly through the world, and comfortably out 
of it, not embarrassed with the labors of the hands or 
of the head, not sold to a life of slavery for daily bread, 
nor harassed with perplexed circumstances, which rob 
the soul of peace and the body of rest; nor enraged with 
the passion of envy, nor the secret burning lust of ambi- 
tion for great things; but, in easy circumstances, sliding 
gently through the world and sensibly tasting the sweets 
of living, without the bitter; feeling that they are happy 


12 ROBINSON CRUSOE 

and learning by every day’s experience to know it more 
sensibly. 

After this he pressed me earnestly, and in the most 
affectionate manner, not to play the young man, nor 
to precipitate myself into miseries which Nature, and 
the station of life I was bom in, seemed to have provided 
against; that I was under no necessity of seeking my 
bread; that he would do well for me, and endeavor to 
enter me fairly into the station of life which he had just 
been recommending to me; and that if I was not very 
easy and happy in the world, it must be my mere fate or 
fault that must hinder it ; and that he should have nothing 
to answer for, having thus discharged his duty in warning 
me against measures which he knew would be to my 
hurt; in a word, that as he would do very kind things 
for me, if I would stay and settle at home as he directed, 
so he would not have so much hand in my misfortunes 
as to give me any encouragement to go away; and to 
close all, he told me I had my elder brother for an example, 
to whom he had used the same earnest persuasions to 
keep him from going into the Low Country wars, but 
could not prevail, his young desires prompting him 
to run into the army, where he was killed. And though 
he said he would not cease to pray for me, yet he would 
venture to say to me that if I did take this foolish step, 
God would not bless me, and I should have leisure 
hereafter to reflect upon having neglected his counsel, 
when there might be none to assist in my recovery. 

I observed in this last part of his discourse, which 
was truly prophetic, though I suppose my father did 
not know it to be so himself — I say, I observed the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


13 


tears run down his face very plentifully, especially when 
he spoke of my brother who was killed; and that when 
he spoke of my having leisure to repent, and none to 
assist me, he was so moved that he broke off the discourse, 
and told me his heart was so full he could say no more 
to me. 

I was sincerely affected with this discourse, as indeed 
who could be otherwise? And I resolved not to think 
of going abroad any more, but to settle at home according 
to my father’s desire. But, alas! a few days wore it all 
off; and, in short, to prevent any of my father’s further 
importunities, in a few weeks after I resolved to run 
quite away from him. However, I did not act quite 
so hastily neither as the first heat of my resolution 
prompted, but I took my mother at a time when I 
thought her a little more pleasant than ordinary, and 
told her that my thoughts were so entirely bent upon 
seeing the world that I should never settle to anything 
with resolution enough to go through with it, and my 
father had better give me his consent than force me to 
go without it; that I was now eighteen years old, which 
was too late to go apprentice to a trade, or clerk to an 
attorney; that I was sure, if I did, I should never serve 
out my time, but I should certainly run away from my 
master before my time was out, and go to sea; and if 
she would speak to my father to let me go one voyage 
abroad, if I came home again, and did not like it, I 
would go no more, and I would promise, by a double 
diligence, to recover the time that I had lost. 

This put my mother into a great passion. She 
told me she knew it would be to no purpose to speak to 


14 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


my father upon any such subject; that he knew too well 
what was my interest to give his consent to anything 
so much for my hurt; and that she wondered how I 
could think of any such thing after the discourse I had 
had with my father, and such kind and tender expressions 
as she knew my father had used to me; and that, in 
short, if I would ruin myself, there was no help for me; 
but I might depend I should never have their consent 
to it; that for her part, she would not have so much hand 
in my destruction; and I should never have it to say 
that my mother was willing when my father was not. 

Though my mother refused to move it to my father, 
yet I heard afterwards that she reported all the discourse 
to him, and that my father, after showing a great concern 
at it, said to her with a sigh: “That boy might be 
happy if he would stay at home; but if he goes abroad 
he will be the most miserable wretch that ever was bom. 
I can give no consent to it.” 

It was not till almost a year after this that I broke 
loose, though, in the meantime, I continued obstinately 
deaf to all proposals of settling to business, and frequently 
expostulated with my father and mother about their 
being so positively determined against what they knew 
my inclinations prompted me to. But being one day 
at Hull, whither I went casually and without any purpose 
of making an elopement at that time; but I say, being 
there, and one of my companions about to go by sea to 
London in his father’s ship, and prompting me to go 
with them, with the common allurement of a seafaring 
man, that it should cost me nothing for my passage, I 
consulted neither father nor mother any more, nor so 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


15 


much as sent them word of it; but leaving them to hear 
of it as they might, without asking God’s blessing or 
my father’s, without any consideration of circumstances 
or consequences, and in an ill hour, God knows, on the 
1st of September, 1651, I went on board a ship bound 
for London. Never any young adventurer’s misfortunes, 
I believe, began sooner or continued longer than mine. 
The ship was no sooner got out of the Humber than 
the wind began to blow, and the sea to rise in a most 
frightful manner; and, as I had never been at sea before, 
I was most inexpressibly sick in body and terrified in 
mind. I began now seriously to reflect upon what I 
had done, and how justly I was overtaken by the judg- 
ment of Heaven for my wicked leaving my father’s 
house, and abandoning my duty. All the good counsel 
of my parents, my father’s tears and my mother’s 
entreaties, came now fresh into my mind; and my 
conscience, which was not yet come to the pitch of 
hardness to which it has come since, reproached me 
with the contempt of advice, and the breach of my 
duty to God and my father. 

All this while the storm increased, and the sea went 
very high, though nothing like what I have seen many 
times since; no, nor what I saw a few days after; but 
it was enough to affect me then, who was but a young 
sailor, and had never known anything of the matter. 
I expected every wave would have swallowed us up, 
and that every time the ship fell down, as I thought 
it did, in the trough or hollow of the sea, we should 
never rise more: in this agony of mind I made many 
vows and resolutions that if it would please God to 


l6 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


spare my life in this one voyage, if ever I got once my 
foot upon dry land again, I would go directly home to 
my father, and never set it into a ship again while I 
lived; that I would take his advice, and never run myself 
into such miseries as these any more. Now I saw 
plainly the goodness of his observations about the middle 
station of life, how easy, how comfortable he had lived 
all his days, and never had been exposed to tempests 
at sea or troubles on shore; and, in short, I resolved 
that I would, like a true, repenting prodigal, go home 
to my father. 

These wise and sober thoughts continued all the 
while the storm lasted, and indeed some time after; 
but the next day the wind was abated and the sea calmer, 
and I began to be a little inured to it; however, I was 
very grave for all that day, being also a little seasick 
still; but towards night the weather cleared up, the wind 
was quite over, and a charming fine evening followed. 
The sun went down perfectly clear, and rose so the next 
morning; having little or no wind, and a smooth sea, 
the sun shining upon it, the sight was, as I thought, 
the most delightful that ever I saw. 

I had slept well in the night, and was now no more 
seasick, but very cheerful, looking with wonder upon 
the sea that was so rough and terrible the day before, 
and could be so calm and so pleasant in so little a time 
after. And now, lest my good resolutions should con- 
tinue, my companion, who had enticed me away, comes 
to me. 

“Well, Bob,” says he, clapping me upon the shoulder, 
“how do you do after it? I warrant you were frighted, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


17 

were n’t you, last night, when it blew but a capful of 
wind?” 

“A capful, d’ you call it?” said I; “’twas a terrible 
storm!” 

“A storm, you fool, you!” replies he. “Do you 
call that a storm? j Why, it was nothing at all; give us but 
a good ship and sea-room, and we think nothing of such a 
squall of wind as that ; but you ’re but a fresh-water sailor, 
Bob. Come, let us make a bowl of punch and we ’ll for- 
get all that; d’ye see what charming weather ’t is now?” 

To make short this sad part of my story, we went 
the way of all sailors; the punch was made, and I was 
made half drunk with it; and in that one night’s wicked- 
ness I drowned all my repentance, all my reflections 
upon my past conduct, all my resolutions for the future. 
In a word, as the sea was returned to its smoothness of 
surface and settled calmness by the abatement of that 
storm, so the hurry of my thoughts being over, my 
fears and apprehensions of being swallowed up by the 
sea being forgotten, and the current of my former desires 
returned, I entirely forgot the vows and promises that 
I made in my distress. I found, indeed, some intervals 
of reflection; and the serious thoughts did, as it were, 
endeavor to return again sometimes; but I shook them 
off, and roused myself from them as it were from a 
distemper, and applying myself to drinking and company, 
soon mastered the return of those fits, for so I called them. 
And I had, in five or six days, got as complete a victory 
over my conscience as any young fellow that resolved 
not to be troubled with it could desire. But I was to 
have another trial for it still; and Providence, as in such 


2 


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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


cases generally it does, resolved to leave me entirely 
without excuse; for if I would not take this for a deliver- 
ance, the next was to be such a one as the worst and 
most hardened wretch among us would confess both 
the danger and the mercy. 

The sixth day of our being at sea we came into 
Yarmouth Roads; the wind having been contrary, and 
the weather calm, we had made but little way since the 
storm. Here we were obliged to come to an anchor, 
and here we lay, the wind continuing contrary, viz., 
at southwest, for seven or eight days, during which time 
a great many ships from Newcastle came into the same 
Roads, as the common harbor where the ships might 
wait for a wind for the River. 

We had not, however, rid here so long, but we should 
have tided it up the river, but that the wind blew too 
fresh, and, after we had lain four or five days, blew very 
hard. However, the Roads being reckoned as good 
as a harbor, the anchorage good, and our ground-tackle 
very strong, our men were unconcerned, and not in the 
least apprehensive of danger, but spent the time in rest 
and mirth, after the manner of the sea; but the eighth 
day, in the morning, the wind increased, and we had all 
hands at work to strike our topmasts, and make every- 
thing snug and close, that the ship might ride as easy as 
possible. By noon the sea went very high indeed, 
and our ship rode forecastle in, shipped several seas, and 
we thought once or twice our anchor had come home; 
upon which our master ordered out the sheet-anchor, 
so that we rode with two anchors ahead, and the cables 
veered out to the better end. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


19 


By this time it blew a terrible storm indeed ; and now 
I began to see terror and amazement in the faces even of 
the seamen themselves. The master, though vigilant 
in the business of preserving the ship, yet as he went 
in and out of his cabin by me, I could hear him softly 
to himself say, several tinier "Lord, be merciful to 
us! We shall be all lost! We shall be all undone!” 
and the like. During these first hurries I was stupid, 
lying still in my cabin, which was in the steerage, and 
cannot describe my temper. I could ill resume the 
first penitence which I had so apparently trampled upon, 
and hardened myself against: I thought the bitterness 
of death had been past, and that this would be nothing 
too, like the first; but when the master himself came 
by me, as I said just now, and said we should be all 
lost, I was dreadfully frighted. I got up out of my cabin, 
and looked out; but such a dismal sight I never saw; 
the sea ran mountains high, and broke upon us every 
three or four minutes. When I could look about, I 
could see nothing but distress round us; two ships that 
rode near us, we found, had cut their masts by the board, 
being deep laden; and our men cried out that a ship 
which rid about a mile ahead of us was foundered. Two 
more ships, being driven from their anchors, were run 
out of the Roads to sea, at all adventures, and that not 
with a mast standing. The light ships fared the best, 
as not so much laboring in the sea; but two or three 
of them drove, and came close by us, running away with 
only their spritsail out before thd wind. 

Toward evening the mate and boatswain begged 
the master of our ship to let them cut away the foremast, 


20 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


which he was very unwilling to do; but the boatswain 
protesting to him that if he did not the ship would 
founder, he consented; and when they had cut away 
the foremast, the mainmast stood so loose, and shook 
the ship so much, they were obliged to cut that away 
also, and make a clear deck. 

And one must judge what a condition I must be in 
at all this, who was but a young sailor, and who had 
been in such a fright before at but a little. But if I 
can express at this distance the thoughts I had about 
me at that time, I was in tenfold more horror of mind 
upon account of my former convictions, and the having 
returned from them to the resolutions I had wickedly 
taken at first, than I was at death itself; and these, 
added to the terror of the storm, put me into such a 
condition that I can by no words describe it. But the 
worst was not come yet; the storm continued with such 
fury that the seamen themselves acknowledged they 
had never seen a worse. We had a good ship, but she 
was deep laden, and wallowed in the sea, so that the 
seamen every now and then cried out she would founder. 
It was my advantage, in one respect, that I did not 
know what they meant by founder, till I inquired. 
However, the storm was so violent that I saw, what 
is not often seen, the master, the boatswain, and some 
others more sensible than the rest, at their prayers, 
and expecting every moment when the ship would go 
to the bottom. In the middle of the night, and under 
all the rest of our distresses, one of the men, that had 
been down to see, cried out we had sprung a leak; another 
said there was four feet of water in the hold. Then all 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


21 


hands were called to the pump. At that word, my 
heart, as I thought, died within me; and I fell back- 
wards upon the side of my bed, where I sat, into the 
cabin. However, the men roused me, and told me 
that I, that was able to do nothing before, was as well 
able to pump as another; at which I stirred up, and 
went to the pump, and worked very heartily. While 
this was doing, the master seeing some light colliers, 
who, not able to ride out the storm, were obliged to 
slip, and run away to the sea, and would come near us, 
ordered to fire a gun as a signal of distress. I, who knew 
nothing what they meant, thought the ship had broken, 
or some dreadful thing happened. In a word, I was 
so surprised that I fell down in a swoon. As this was 
a time when everybody had his own life to think of, 
nobody minded me or what was become of me; but 
another man stepped up to the pump, and thrusting me 
aside with his foot, let me lie, thinking I had been dead; 
and it was a great while before I came to myself. 

We worked on; but the water increasing in the hold, 
it was apparent that the ship would founder; and though 
the storm began to abate a little, yet as it was not possible 
she could swim till we might run into any port, so the 
master continued firing guns for help; and a light ship, 
who had rid it out just ahead of us, ventured a boat out 
to help us. It was with the utmost hazard the boat 
came near us; but it was impossible for us to get on 
board, or for the boat to lie near the ship’s side, till at 
last the men rowing very heartily, and venturing their 
lives to save ours, our men cast them a rope over the 
stern with a buoy to it, and then veered it out a great 


22 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


length, which they after much labor and hazard took 
hold of, and we hauled them close under our stern, and 
got all into their boat. It was to no purpose for them 
or us, after we were in the boat, to think of reaching to 
their own ship ; so all agreed to let her drive, and only to 
pull her in towards shore as much as we could; and 
our master promised them that if the boat was staved 
upon shore, he would make it good to their master. 
So partly rowing, and partly driving, our boat went 
away to the northward, sloping towards the shore 
almost as far as Winterton Ness. 

We were not much more than a quarter of an hour 
out of our ship till we saw her sink, and then I understood 
for the first time what was meant by a ship foundering 
in the sea. I must acknowledge I had hardly eyes to 
look up when the seamen told me she was sinking; 
for from the moment that they rather put me into the 
boat than that I might be said to go in, my heart was, 
as it were, dead within me, partly with fright, partly 
with horror of mind and the thoughts of what was yet 
before me. 

While we were in this condition, the men yet laboring 
at the oar to bring the boat near the shore, we could see 
(when, our boat mounting the waves, we were able to see 
the shore) a great many people running along the strand, 
to assist us when we should come near. But we made 
but slow way towards the shore; nor were we able to 
reach the shore till, being past the lighthouse at Winter- 
ton, the shore falls off to the westward, towards Cromer, 
and so the land broke off a little the violence of the wind. 
Here we got in, and, though not without much difficulty, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


23 


got all safe on shore, and walked afterwards on foot to 
Yarmouth, where, as unfortunate men, we were used 
with great humanity, as well by the magistrates of the 
town, who assigned us good quarters, as by particular 
merchants and owners of ships, and had money given 
us sufficient to carry us either to London or back to 
Hull, as we thought fit. 

Had I now had the sense to have gone back to Hull, 
and have gone home, I had been happy, and my father, 
an emblem of our blessed Saviour’s parable, had even 
killed the fatted calf for me; for hearing the ship I went 
away in was cast away in Yarmouth Roads, it was a 
great while before he had any assurances that I was not 
drowned. 

But my ill fate pushed me on now with an obstinacy 
that nothing could resist; and though I had several times 
loud calls from my reason, and my more composed 
judgment, to go home, yet I had no power to do it. I 
know not what to call this, nor will I urge that it is a 
secret overruling decree that hurries us on to be the 
instruments of our own destruction, even though it be 
before us, and that we rush upon it with our eyes open. 
Certainly, nothing but some such decreed unavoidable 
misery attending, and which it was impossible for me 
to escape, could have pushed me forward against the 
calm reasonings and persuasions of my most retired 
thoughts, and against two such visible obstructions as 
I had met with in my first attempt. 

My comrade, who had helped to harden me before, 
and who was the master’s son, was now less forward 
than I. The first time he spoke to me after we were at 


24 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


Yarmouth, which was not till two or three days, for we 
were separated in the town to several quarters; I say, 
the first time he saw me, it appeared his tone was altered; 
and looking very melancholy, and shaking his head, he 
asked me how I did, and telling his father who I was, 
and how I had come this voyage only for a trial, in 
order to go farther abroad, his father turning to me 
with a very grave and concerned tone, “Young man,” 
says he, “you ought never to go to sea any more; you 
ought to take this for a plain and visible token that you 
are not to be a seafaring man.” “Why, sir,” said I, “will 
you go to sea no more?” “That is another case,” 
said he; “it is my calling, and therefore my duty; but 
as you have made this voyage for a trial, you see what 
a taste Heaven has given you of what you are to expect 
if you persist. Perhaps this has all befallen us on your 
account, like Jonah in the ship of Tarshish. Pray,” 
continues he, “what are you; and on what account did 
you go to sea?” Upon which I told him some of my 
story; at the end of which he burst out into a strange 
kind of passion: “What had I done,” says he, “that 
such an unhappy wretch should come into my ship? 
I would not set my foot in the same ship with thee 
again for a thousand pounds.” This indeed was, as I 
said, an excursion of his spirits, which were yet agitated 
by the sense of his loss, and was farther than he could 
have authority to go. However, he afterwards talked 
very gravely to me, exhorting me to go back to my father, 
and not tempt Providence to my ruin; telling me I might 
see a visible hand of Heaven against me. “And, young 
man,” said he, “depend upon it, if you do not go back, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


25 


wherever you go you will meet with nothing but disasters 
and disappointments, till your father’s words are fulfilled 
upon you.” 

We parted soon after, for I made him little answer, 
and I saw him no more; which way he went I know not. 
As for me, having some money in my pocket, I traveled 
to London by land; and there, as well as on the road, 
had many struggles with myself what course of life I 
should take, and whether I should go home or go to sea. 

As to going home, shame opposed the best motions 
that offered to my thoughts; and it immediately occurred 
to me how I should be laughed at among the neighbors, 
and should be ashamed to see, not my father and mother 
only, but even everybody else; from whence I have often 
since observed how incongruous and irrational the 
common temper of mankind is, especially of youth, to 
that reason which ought to guide them in such cases, 
viz., that they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are 
ashamed to repent; not ashamed of the action for which 
they ought justly to be esteemed fools, but are ashamed 
of the returning, which only can make them be esteemed 
wise men. 

In this state of life, however, I remained some time, 
uncertain what measures to take, and what course of 
life to lead. An irresistible reluctance continued to 
going home; and as I stayed a while, the remembrance 
of the distress I had been in wore off; and as that abated, 
the little motion I had in my desires to return wore off 
with it, till at last I quite laid aside the thoughts of it, 
and looked out for a voyage. 

That evil influence which carried me first away from 


26 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


my father’s house, which hurried me into the wild and 
indigested notion of raising my fortune, and that im- 
pressed those conceits so forcibly upon me as to make 
me deaf to all good advice and to the entreaties and even 
the commands of my father: I say, the same influence, 
whatever it was, presented the most unfortunate of all 
enterprises to my view; and I went on board a vessel 
bound to the coast of Africa; or, as our sailors vulgarly 
call it, a voyage to Guinea . 1 

It was my great misfortune that in all these adventures 
I did not ship myself as a sailor; when, though I might 
indeed have worked a little harder than ordinary, yet 
at the same time I should have learned the duty and 
office of a foremast man, and in time might have qualified 
myself for a mate or lieutenant, if not for a master. But 
as it was always my fate to choose for the worse, so I 
did here; for having money in my pocket, and good 
clothes upon my back, I would always go on board in 
the habit of a gentleman; and so I neither had any 
business in the ship nor learned to do any. 

It was my lot first of all to fall into pretty good 
company in London, which does not always happen to 
such loose and misguided young fellows as I then was, 
the devil generally not omitting to lay some snare for 
them very early; but it was not so with me. I first got 
acquainted with the master of a ship who had been on 
the coast of Guinea, and who, having had very good 
success there, was resolved to go again. This captain, 

1 Guinea. A district of that part of the West Coast of Africa where the 
land runs nearly due east and west. The six countries into which it is divided 
are known to sailors under the names of Sierra Leone, Grain Coast, Ivory Coast, 
Gold Coast, Slave Coast, and Benin. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


27 


taking a fancy to my conversation, which was not at 
all disagreeable at that time, hearing me say I had a 
mind to see the world, told me if I would go the voyage 
with him I should be at no expense; I should be his 
messmate and his companion; and if I could carry 
anything with me I should have all the advantage of it 
that the trade would admit; and perhaps I might meet 
with some encouragement. 

I embraced the offer; and entering into a strict 
friendship with this captain, who was an honest, plain- 
dealing man, I went the voyage with him, and carried 
a small adventure with me, which, by the disinterested 
honesty of my friend the captain, I increased very con- 
siderably; for I carried about £40 in such toys and trifles 
as the captain directed me to buy. This £40 I had 
mustered together by the assistance of some of my 
relations whom I corresponded with, and who, I believe, 
got my father, or at least my mother, to contribute so 
much as that to my first adventure. 

This was the only voyage which I may say was 
successful in all my adventures, and which I owe to the 
integrity and honesty of my friend the captain; under 
whom also I got a competent knowledge of the mathe- 
matics and the rules of navigation, learned how to keep 
an account of the ship’s course, take an observation, 
and, in short, to understand some things that were need- 
ful to be understood by a sailor. For, as he took delight 
to instruct me, I took delight to learn; and, in a word, 
this voyage made me both a sailor and a merchant; for 
I brought home five pounds nine ounces of gold dust 
for my adventure, which yielded me in London, at my 


28 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


return, almost £300; and this filled me with those aspir- 
ing thoughts which have since so completed my ruin. 

Yet even in this voyage I had my misfortunes too, 
particularly that I was continually sick, being thrown 
into a violent calenture by the excessive heat of the cli- 
mate; our principal trading being on the coast, from the 
latitude of fifteen degrees north, even to the line itself. 

I was now set up for a Guinea trader; and my friend, 
to my great misfortune, dying soon after his arrival, I 
resolved to go the same voyage again, and I embarked 
in the same vessel with one who was his mate in the 
former voyage, and had now got the command of the 
ship. This was the unhappiest voyage that ever man 
made; for though I did not carry quite £100 of my new- 
gained wealth, so that I had £200 left which I had lodged 
with my friend’s widow, who was very just to me, yet I 
fell into terrible misfortunes in this voyage. And the 
first was this, viz., our ship making her course towards 
the Canary Islands, or rather between those Islands and 
the African shore, was surprised in the gray of the morning 
by a Moorish rover of Sallee, who gave chase to us with 
all the sail she could make. We crowded also as much 
canvas as our yards would spread, or our masts carry, to 
have got clear; but finding the pirate gained upon us, 
and would certainly come up with us in a few hours, we 
prepared to fight, our ship having twelve guns and the 
rogue eighteen. About three in the afternoon he came 
up with us, and bringing to, by mistake, just athwart our 
quarter, instead of athwart our stem, as he intended, we 
brought eight of our guns to bear on that side, and 
poured in a broadside upon him, which made him sheer 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


29 


off again, after returning our fire, and pouring in also 
his small shot from near two hundred men which he had 
on board. However, we had not a man touched, all our 
men keeping close. He prepared to attack us again, 
and we to defend ourselves; but laying us on board the 
next time upon our other quarter, he entered sixty men 
upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and 
hacking the sails and rigging. We plied them with 
small-shot, half-pikes, powder chests, and such like, and 
cleared our deck of them twice. However, to cut short 
this melancholy part of our story, our ship being disabled, 
and three of our men killed and eight wounded, we were 
obliged to yield, and were carried all prisoners into 
Sallee, a port belonging to the Moors. 

The usage I had there was not so dreadful as at first I 
apprehended; nor was I carried up the country to the 
emperor’s court, as the rest of our men were, but was 
kept by the captain of the rover as his proper prize, and 
made his slave, being young and nimble, and fit for his 
business. At this surprising change of my circumstances, 
from a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly 
overwhelmed; and now I looked back upon my father’s 
prophetic discourse to me, — that I should be miserable 
and have none to relieve me, — which I thought was now 
so effectually brought to pass that I could not be worse; 
for now the hand of Heaven had overtaken me, and I 
was undone without redemption. But, alas! this was 
but a taste of the misery I was to go through, as will 
appear in the sequel of this story. 

As my new patron, or master, had taken me home to 
his house, so I was in hopes that he would take me with 


30 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


him when he went to sea again, believing that it would 
some time or other be his fate to be taken by a Spanish 
or Portuguese man-of-war; and that then I should be 
set at liberty. But this hope of mine was soon taken 
away; for when he went to sea he left me on shore to 
look after his little garden, and do the common drudgery 
of slaves about his house; and when he came home again 
from his cruise he ordered me to lie in the cabin to look 
after the ship. 

Here I meditated nothing but my escape, and what 
method I might take to effect it, but found no way that 
had the least probability in it. Nothing presented to 
make the supposition of it rational, for I had nobody to 
communicate it to that would embark with me, no fellow- 
slave, no Englishman, Irishman, or Scotsman there but 
myself; so that for two years, though I often pleased 
myself with the imagination, yet I never had the least 
encouraging prospect of putting it in practice. 

After about two years an odd circumstance presented 
itself which put the old thought of making some attempt 
for my liberty again in my head. My patron lying at 
home longer than usual without fitting out his ship, 
which, as I heard, was for want of money, he used con- 
stantly, once or twice a week, sometimes oftener if the 
weather was fair, to take the ship’s pinnace and go out 
into the road a-fishing; and as he always took me and 
a young Moresco with him to row the boat, we made 
him very merry, and I proved very dexterous in catching 
fish; insomuch that sometimes he would send me with a 
Moor, one of his kinsmen, and the youth the Moresco, 
as they called him, to catch a dish of fish for him. 



Our ship being disabled, and three of our men killed and eight 
wounded, we were obliged to yield 




ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3i 


It happened one time that, going a-fishing with him 
in a calm morning, a fog rose so thick that though we 
were not half a league from the shore we lost sight of it ; 
and rowing we knew not whither or which way, we 
labored all day, and all the next night. And when the 
morning came we found we had pulled out to sea instead 
of pulling in for shore; and that we were at least two 
leagues from the land. However, we got well in again, 
though with a great deal of labor and some danger, for 
the wind began to blow pretty fresh in the morning; 
but particularly we were all very hungry. 

But our patron, warned by this disaster, resolved to 
take more care of himself for the future; and having 
lying by him the long boat of our English ship which he 
had taken, he resolved he would not go a-fishing any 
more without a compass and some provisions. So he 
ordered the carpenter of his ship, who also was an English 
slave, to build a little stateroom, or cabin, in the middle 
of the long boat, like that of a barge, with a place to 
stand behind it to steer and haul home the mainsheet, 
and room before for a hand or two to stand and work 
the sails. 

She sailed with what we call a shoulder-of-mutton 
sail; and the boom jibbed over the top of the cabin, 
which lay very snug and low, and had in it room for him 
to lie, with a slave or two, and a table to eat on, with 
some small lockers to put in some bottles of such liquor 
as he thought fit to drink; and particularly his bread, 
rice, and coffee. 

We went frequently out with this boat a-fishing; and 
as I was most dexterous to catch fish for him, he never 


32 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


went without me. It happened that he had appointed 
to go out in this boat, either for pleasure or for fish, with 
two or three Moors of some distinction in that place, 
and for whom he had provided extraordinarily, and had 
therefore sent on board the boat overnight a larger store 
of provisions than usual; and had ordered me to get 
ready three fusils 1 with powder and shot, which were 
on board his ship, for that they designed some sport of 
fowling as well as fishing. 

I got all things ready as he had directed; and waited 
the next morning with the boat washed clean, her ancient 2 
and pendants out, and everything to accommodate his 
guests; when by and by my patron came on board 
alone, and told me his guests had put off going, from 
some business that fell out, and ordered me, with the 
man and boy, as usual, to go out with the boat and catch 
them some fish, and that his friends were to sup at his 
house. He commanded me, too, that as soon as I 
had got some fish I should bring it home to his house: all 
which I prepared to do. 

This moment my former notions of deliverance darted 
into my thoughts, for now I found I was likely to have 
a little ship at my command; and my master being gone, 

I prepared to furnish myself not for fishing business 
but for a voyage; though I knew not, neither did I so 
much as consider, whither I would steer; for anywhere 
to get out of that place was my desire. 

My first contrivance was to make a pretense to speak - 
to this Moor, to get something for our subsistence on 

1 Fusil. A French word, meaning a light musket or firelock. 

2 Ancient. The old word, derived from the French enseigne , for a flag, or 
the man who carries it. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


33 

board; for I told him we must not presume to eat of our 
patron’s bread. 

He said that was true ; so he brought a large basket of 
rusk or biscuit of their kind, and three jars with fresh 
water, into the boat. I knew where my patron’s case 
of bottles stood, which it was evident, by the make, 
were taken out of some English prize, and I conveyed 
them into the boat while the Moor was on shore, as if 
they had been there before for our master. I conveyed 
also a great lump of beeswax into the boat, which weighed 
about half an hundredweight, with a parcel of twine or 
thread, a hatchet, a saw, and a hammer, all of which 
were of great use to us afterwards, especially the wax to 
make candles. Another trick I tried upon him, which 
he innocently came into also; his name was Ismael, 
which they call Muley, or Moely; so I called to him: 
“Moely,” said I, “our patron’s guns are all on board 
the boat; can you not get a little powder and shot? It 
may be we may kill some alcamies [a fowl like our cur- 
lews] for ourselves, for I know he keeps the gunner’s 
stores in the ship.” “Yes,” say she, “I’ll bring some.” 
Accordingly, he brought a great leather pouch, which 
held about a pound and a half of powder, or rather more ; 
and another with shot, that had five or six pounds, with 
some bullets, and put all into the boat. At the same time 
I had found some powder of my master’s in the great 
cabin, with which I filled one of the large bottles in the 
case, which was almost empty, pouring what was in it 
into another; and thus furnished with everything needful, 
we sailed out of the port to fish. The castle, which is at 
the entrance of the port, knew who we were, and took 


3 


34 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


no notice of us; and we were not above a mile out of the 
port before we hauled in our sail, and sat us down to 
fish. The wind blew from the N.N.E., which was con- 
trary to my desire; for had it blown southerly, I had been 
sure to have made the coast of Spain, and at least reached 
to the bay of Cadiz; but my resolutions were, blow which 
way it would, I would be gone from that horrid place 
where I was, and leave the rest to fate. 

After we had fished some time and caught nothing, 
for when I had fish on my hook I would not pull them 
up, that he might not see them, I said to the Moor, 
“This will not do; our master will not be thus served; 
we must stand farther off.” He, thinking no harm, 
agreed, and, being in the head of the boat, set the sails; 
and, as I had the helm, I ran the boat out near a league 
farther, and then brought her to as if I would fish; when, 
giving the boy the helm, I stepped forward to where 
the Moor was, and making as if I stooped for something 
behind him, I took him by surprise with my arm under 
his waist, and tossed him clear overboard into the sea. 

He rose immediately, for he swam like a cork, and 
called to me, begged to be taken in, telling me he would 
go all over the world with me. He swam so strong after 
the boat that he would have reached me very quickly, 
there being but little wind; upon which I stepped into 
the cabin, and fetching one of the fowling pieces, I pre- 
sented it at him and told him I had done him no hurt, 
and if he would be quiet I would do him none. “ But,” 
said I, “you swim well enough to reach the shore, and 
the sea is calm; make the best of your way to shore, 
and I will do you no harm ; but if you come near the boat 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


35 


I’ll shoot you through the head, for I am resolved to 
have my liberty.” So he turned himself about, and 
swam for the shore, and I make no doubt but he reached 
it with ease, for he was an excellent swimmer. 

I could have been content to have taken this Moor 
with me, and have drowned the boy, but there was no 
venturing to trust him. When he was gone I turned to 
the boy, whom they called Xury, and said to him, 
“Xury, if you will be faithful to me, I’ll make you a 
great man; but if you will not stroke your face to be 
true to me,” that is, swear by Mahomet and his father’s 
beard, “I must throw you into the sea too.” The boy 
smiled in my face, and spoke so innocently that I could 
not mistrust him, and swore to be faithful to me and go 
all over the world with me. 

While I was in the view of the Moor that was swim- 
ming, I stood out directly to sea, with the boat rather 
stretching to windward, that they might think me gone 
towards the Straits ’ 1 mouth (as indeed any one that 
had been in their wits must have been supposed to do) ; 
for who would have supposed we were sailing on to the 
southward to the truly barbarian coast, where whole 
nations of negroes were sure to surround us with their 
canoes, and destroy us; where we could never once go 
on shore but we should be devoured by savage beasts, 
or more merciless savages of human kind? 

But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening I changed 
my course, and steered directly south and by east, 
bending my course a little towards the east that I might 
keep in with the shore; and having a fair, fresh gale of 

1 Straits. The Straits of Gibraltar. 


36 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


wind, and a smooth, quiet sea, I made such sail that I 
believe by the next day at three o’clock in the afternoon, 
when I first made the land, I could not be less than one 
hundred and fifty miles south of Sallee, quite beyond 
the Emperor of Morocco’s dominions, or indeed of any 
other king thereabouts, for we saw no people. 

Yet such was the fright I had taken at the Moors, and 
the dreadful apprehensions I had of falling into their 
hands, that I would not stop, or go on shore, or come 
to an anchor, the wind continuing fair, till I had sailed 
in that manner five days; and then, the wind shifting 
to the southward, I concluded also that if any of our 
vessels were in chase of me they also would now give 
over. So I ventured to make to the coast, and came to 
an anchor in the mouth of a little river, I knew not what 
nor where; neither what latitude, what country, what 
nation, or what river. I neither saw nor desired to see 
any people; the principal thing I wanted was fresh water. 
We came into this creek in the evening, resolving to swim 
on shore as soon as it was dark, and discover the country ; 
but as soon as it was quite dark, we heard such dreadful 
noises of the barking, roaring, and howling of wild 
creatures, of we knew not what kinds, that the poor 
boy was ready to die with fear, and begged of me not to 
go on shore till day. “Well, Xury,” said I, “then I 
won’t; but it may be we may see men by day, who will 
be as bad to us as those lions.” “ Then we give them the 
shoot gun,” says Xury, laughing; “make them run 
wey.” Such English Xury spoke by conversing among 
us slaves. However, I was glad to see the boy so cheer- 
ful, and I gave him a dram (out of our patron’s case of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


37 


bottles) to cheer him up. After all, Xury’s advice was 
good, and I took it. We dropped our little anchor, and 
lay still all night; I say still, for we slept none; for in 
two or three hours we saw vast great creatures (we knew 
not what to call them), of many sorts, come down to 
the seashore, and run into the water, wallowing and 
washing themselves for the pleasure of cooling them- 
selves; and they made such hideous howlings and yellings 
that I never indeed heard the like. 

Xury was dreadfully frighted, and indeed so was I too ; 
but we were both more frighted when we heard one 
mighty creature come swimming toward our boat. We 
could not see him, but we might hear him by his blowing 
to be a monstrous, huge, and furious beast. Xury said 
it was a lion, and it might be so for aught I know; but 
poor Xury cried to me to weigh the anchor and row 
away. “No,” says I, “Xury; we can slip our cable, 
with the buoy to it, and go to sea; they cannot follow 
us far.” I had no sooner said so, but I perceived the 
creature, whatever it was, within two oars’ length, which 
something surprised me. However, I immediately 
stepped to the cabin door, and taking up my gun, fired 
at him; upon which he immediately turned about, and 
swam towards the shore again. 

But it is impossible to describe the horrid noises, and 
hideous cries and howlings that were raised, as well upon 
the edge of the shore as higher within the country, upon 
the noise or report of a gun, a thing I have some reason 
to believe those creatures had never heard before. This 
convinced me that there was no going on shore for us in 
the night upon that coast; and how to venture on shore 


38 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


in the day was another question too; for to have fallen 
into the hands of any of the savages had been as bad as 
to have fallen into the paws of lions and tigers; at least 
we were equally apprehensive of the danger of it. 

Be that as it would, we were obliged to go on shore 
somewhere or other for water, for we had not a pint left 
in the boat. When or where to get it was the point. 
Xury said, if I would let him go on shore with one of 
the jars he would find if there was any water, and bring 
some to me. I asked him why he would go? Why 
I should not go, and he stay in the boat? The boy 
answered with so much affection that made me love him 
ever after. Says he, “If wild mans come, they eat me, 
you go wey.” “Well, Xury,” said I, “we will both go, 
and if the wild mans come, we will kill them. They 
shall eat neither of us.” So I gave Xury a piece of rusk- 
bread to eat, and a dram out of our patron’s case of 
bottles which I mentioned before; and we hauled the 
boat in as near the shore as we thought was proper, and 
waded on shore, carrying nothing but our arms and two 
jars for water. 

I did not care to go out of sight of the boat, fearing the 
coming of canoes with savages down the river; but the 
boy, seeing a low place about a mile up the country, 
rambled to it, and by and by I saw him come running 
towards me. I thought he was pursued by some savage, 
or frighted with some wild beast, and I ran forward 
towards him to help him; but when I came nearer to 
him I saw something hanging over his shoulders, which 
was a creature that he had shot, like a hare but different 
in color, and longer legs; however, we were very glad of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


39 


it, and it was very good meat; but the great joy poor 
Xury came with was to tell me he had found good water, 
and seen no wild mans. 

But we found afterwards that we need not take such 
pains for water, for a little higher up the creek where we 
were we found the water fresh when the tide was out, 
which flows but a little way up; so we filled our jars, and 
feasted on the hare we had killed, and prepared to go 
on our way, having seen no footsteps of any human 
creature in that part of the country. 

As I had been one voyage to this coast before, I knew 
very well that the islands of the Canaries, and the Cape 
de Verd Islands also, lay not far off from the coast. But 
as I had no instruments to take an observation to know 
what latitude we were in, and did not exactly know, or 
at least not remember, what latitude they were in, I 
knew not where to look for them, or when to stand off 
to sea towards them; otherwise I might now easily have 
found some of these islands. But my hope was, that if 
I stood along this coast till I came to that part where 
the English traded, I should find some of their vessels 
upon their usual design of trade, that would relieve and 
take us in. 

By the best of my calculation, that place where I 
now was must be that country which, lying between the 
Emperor of Morocco’s dominions and the negroes, lies 
waste and uninhabited, ' except by wild beasts; the 
negroes having abandoned it, and gone farther south, 
for fear of the Moors; and the Moors not thinking it 
worth inhabiting, by reason of its barrenness; and indeed 
both forsaking it because of the prodigious numbers of 


40 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


tigers, lions, leopards, and other furious creatures which 
harbor there; so that the Moors use it for their hunting 
only, where they go like an army, two or three thousand 
men at a time. And indeed, for near a hundred miles 
together upon this coast we saw nothing but a waste, 
uninhabited country by day, and heard nothing but 
howlings and roarings of wild beasts by night. 

Once or twice in the daytime I thought I saw the Pico 
of Teneriffe, being the high top of the mountain Teneriffe 
in the Canaries, and had a great mind to venture out, 
in hopes of reaching thither; but having tried twice, I 
was forced in again by contrary winds, the sea also 
going too high for my little vessel. So I resolved to 
pursue my first design, and keep along the shore. 

Several times I was obliged to land for fresh water, 
after we had left this place; and once in particular, 
being early in the morning, we came to an anchor under 
a little point of land which was pretty high; and the 
tide beginning to flow, we lay still to go farther in. 
Xury, whose eyes were more about him than it seems 
mine were, calls softly to me, and tells me that we had 
best go farther off the shore. “For,” says he, “look, 
yonder lies a dreadful monster on the side of that hil- 
lock, fast asleep.” I looked where he pointed, and saw a 
dreadful monster indeed, for it was a terrible great lion 
that lay on the side of the shore, under the shade of a 
piece of a hill that hung as it were a little over him. 
“Xury,” says I, “you shall go on shore and kill him.” 
Xury looked frighted and said, “Me kill? He eat me 
at one mouth.” One mouthful he meant. However, I 
said no more to the boy, but bade him be still, and took 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


4i 


our biggest gun, which was almost musket-bore, and 
loaded it with a good charge of powder, and with two 
slugs, and laid it down; then I loaded another gun with 
two bullets; and the third (for we had three pieces) I 
loaded with five smaller bullets. I took the best aim 
I could with the first piece to have shot him in the head, 
but he lay so, with his leg raised a little above his nose, 
that the slugs hit his leg about the knee, and broke the 
bone. He started up, growling at first, but finding his 
leg broke, fell down again; and then got up upon three 
legs, and gave the most hideous roar that ever I heard. 
I was a little surprised that I had not hit him on the 
head; however, I took up the second piece immediately, 
and though he began to move off, fired again, and shot 
him in the head, and had the pleasure to see him drop; 
and making but little noise, he lay struggling for life. 
Then Xury took heart, and would have me let him go on 
shore. “Well, go,” said I; so the boy jumped into the 
water, and taking the little gun in one hand, swam to 
shore with the other hand, and coming close to the 
creature, put the muzzle of the piece to his ear and shot 
him in the head again, which dispatched him quite. 

This was game indeed to us, but this was no food; 
and I was very sorry to lose three charges of powder and 
shot upon a creature that was good for nothing to us. 
However, Xury said he would have some of him; so he 
comes on board, and asked me to give him the hatchet. 
“For what, Xury?” said I. “Me cut off his head,” 
said he. However, Xury could not cut off his head, but 
he cut off a foot, and brought it with him, and it was a 
monstrous great one. 


42 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I bethought myself, however, that perhaps the skin 
of him might, one way or other, be of some value to us; 
and I resolved to take off his skin if I could. So Xury and 
I went to work with him; but Xury was much the better 
workman at it, for I knew very ill how to do it. Indeed, 
it took us both the whole day, but at last we got off 
the hide of him, and spreading it on the top of our cabin, 
the sun effectually dried it in two days’ time, and it 
afterwards served me to lie upon. 

After this stop we made on to the southward con- 
tinually for ten or twelve days, living very sparingly on 
our provisions, which began to abate very much, and 
going no oftener into the shore than we were obliged to 
for fresh water. My design in this was to make the River 
Gambia or Senegal; that is to say, anywhere about the 
Cape de Verd, where I was in hopes to meet with some 
European ship; and if I did not, I knew not what course 
I had to take but to seek for the islands, or perish there 
among the negroes. I knew that all the ships from 
Europe which sailed either to the coast of Guinea or 
to Brazil, or to the East Indies, made this cape, or those 
islands; and, in a word, I put the whole of my fortune 
upon this single point, either that I must meet with some 
ship, or must perish. 

When I had pursued this resolution about ten days 
longer, as I have said, I began to see that the land was 
inhabited; and in two or three places, as we sailed by, 
we saw people stand upon the shore to look at us; we 
could also perceive they were quite black, and stark 
naked. I was once inclined to have gone on shore to 
them; but Xury was my better counselor, and said to 



He then got up upon three legs, 

ever 


and gave 
I heard 


the most hideous roar that 






t 


» 











ROBINSON CRUSOE 


43 


me, “No go, no go.” However, I hauled in nearer the 
shore that I might talk to them, and I found they ran 
along the shore by me a good way: I observed they had 
no weapons in their hands, except one, who had a long 
slender stick, which Xury said was a lance, and that 
they could throw them a great way with good aim. So 
I kept at a distance, but talked with them by signs as 
well as I could ; and particularly made signs for something 
to eat: they beckoned to me to stop my boat and they 
would fetch me some meat. Upon this, I lowered the 
top of my sail, and lay by, and two of them ran up into 
the country, and in less than half an hour came back, 
and brought with them two pieces of dried flesh and some 
corn, such as is the produce of their country; but we 
neither knew what the one nor the other was. However, 
we were willing to accept it, but how to come at it was 
our next dispute, for I would not venture on shore to 
them, and they were as much afraid of us. But they took 
a safe way for us all, for they brought it to the shore and 
laid it down, and went and stood a great way off till we 
fetched it on board, and then came close to us again. 

We made signs of thanks to them, for we had nothing 
to make them amends. But an opportunity offered 
that very instant to oblige them wonderfully, for while 
we were lying on the shore, came two mighty creatures, 
one pursuing the other (as we took it) with great fury 
from the mountains towards the sea. Whether it was 
the male pursuing the female, or whether they were in 
sport or in rage, we could not tell, any more than we could 
tell whether it was usual or strange. But I believe it 
was the latter, because, in the first place, these ravenous 


44 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


creatures seldom appear but in the night; and, in the 
second place, we found the people terribly frighted, 
especially the women. The man that had the lance or 
dart did not fly from them, as the rest did; however, as 
the two creatures ran directly into the water, they did 
not offer to fall upon any of the negroes, but plunged 
themselves into the sea, and swam about, as if they had 
come for their diversion: at last one of them began to 
come nearer our boat than at first I expected ; but I lay 
ready for him, for I had loaded my gun with all possible 
expedition, and bade Xury load both the others. As 
soon as he came fairly within my reach, I fired, and shot 
him directly in the head; immediately he sank down 
into the water, but rose instantly, and plunged up and 
down, as if he was struggling for life, and so indeed he 
was. He immediately made to the shore; but between 
the wound, which was his mortal hurt, and the strangling 
of the water, he died just before he reached the shore. 

It is impossible to express the astonishment of these 
poor creatures at the noise and fire of my gun. Some of 
them were ready even to die for fear, and fell down as 
dead with the very terror. But when they saw the 
creature dead, and sunk into the water, and that I made 
signs to them to come to the shore, they took heart and 
began to search for the creature. I found him by his 
blood staining the water: and by the help of a rope, 
which I slung round him, and gave the negroes to haul, 
they dragged him on shore, and found that it was a 
most curious leopard, spotted, and fine to an admirable 
degree; and the negroes held up their hands with admira- 
tion to think what it was I killed him with. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


45 


The other creature, frighted with the flash of fire and 
the noise of the gun, swam to the shore, and ran up 
directly to the mountains from whence they came; nor 
could I at that distance know what it was. I found 
quickly the negroes were for eating the flesh of this 
creature, so I was willing to have them take it as a favor 
from me; which, when I made signs to them that they 
might take it, they were very thankful for. Immedi- 
ately they fell to work with him; and though they had 
no knife, yet, with a sharpened piece of wood, they 
took off his skin as readily, and much more readily, than 
we would have done with a knife. They offered me some 
of the flesh, which I declined, making as if I would give 
it them; but made signs for the skin, which they gave 
me very freely, and brought me a great deal more of 
their provision, which, though I did not understand, 
yet I accepted. Then I made signs to them for some 
water, and held out one of my jars to them, turning its 
bottom upward, to show that it was empty, and that I 
wanted to have it filled. They called immediately to 
some of their friends, and there came two women, and 
brought a great vessel made of earth, and burnt as I 
suppose in the sun; this they set down for me, as before, 
and I sent Xury on shore with my jars, and filled them all 
three. The women were as stark naked as the men. 

I was now furnished with roots and corn, such as it 
was, and water; and leaving my friendly negroes, I 
made forward for about eleven days more, without 
offering to go near the shore, till I saw the land run out 
a great length into the sea, at about the distance of four 
or five leagues before me; and the sea being very calm, 


4 6 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I kept a large offing to make this point. At length, 
doubling the point at about two leagues from the land, 
I saw plainly land on the other side, to seaward; then I 
concluded, as it was most certain indeed, that this was 
the Cape de Verd, and those the islands called, from 
thence, Cape de Verd Islands. However, they were at 
a great distance, and I could not well tell what I had 
best do; for if I should be taken with a fresh gale of 
wind, I might neither reach one nor other. 

In this dilemma, as I was very pensive, I stepped into 
the cabin, and sat me down, Xury having the helm; when, 
on a sudden, the boy cried out, “Master, master, a ship 
with a sail!” and the foolish boy was frighted out of 
his wits, thinking it must needs be some of his master’s 
ships sent to pursue us, when I knew we were gotten far 
enough out of their reach. I jumped out of the cabin, 
and immediately saw not only the ship, but that it was a 
Portuguese ship; and, as I thought, was bound to the 
coast of Guinea for negroes. But when I observed the 
course she steered I was soon convinced they were bound 
some other way, and did not design to go any nearer the 
shore: upon which I stretched out to the sea as much as 
I could, resolving to speak with them if possible. 

With all the sail I could make, I found I should not 
be able to come in their way, but that they would be 
gone by before I could make any signal to them. But 
after I had crowded to the utmost, and began to despair, 
they, it seems, saw me by the help of their perspective 
glasses, and that it was some European boat, which 
they supposed must belong to some ship that was lost; so 
they shortened sail to let me come up. I was encouraged 


/ 

ROBINSON CRUSOE 47 

t 

with this, and as I had my patron’s ancient on board, 
I made a waft of it to them for a signal of distress, 
and fired a gun, both which they saw; for they told me 
they saw the smoke, though they did not hear the gun. 
Upon these signals they very kindly brought to, and lay 
by for me; and in about three hours’ time I came up 
with them. 

They asked me what I was, in Portuguese, and in 
Spanish, and in French, but I understood none of them; 
but at last a Scotch sailor, who was on board, called to 
me : and I answered him, and told him I was an English- 
man that had made my escape out of slavery from the 
Moors at Sallee. They then bade me come on board, 
and very kindly took me in, and all my goods. 

It was an inexpressible joy to me, which any one will 
believe, that I was thus delivered, as I esteemed it, 
from such a miserable and almost hopeless condition 
as I was in; and I immediately offered all I had to the 
captain of the ship as a return for my deliverance. But 
he generously told me he would take nothing from me, 
but that all I had should be delivered safe to me when I 
came to the Brazils. “For,” says he, “I have saved 
your life on no other terms than as I would be glad to 
be saved myself; and it may, one time or other, be my 
lot to be taken up in the same condition. Besides,” 
said he, “when I carry you to the Brazils, so great a 
way from your own country, if I should take from you 
what you have you will be starved there, and then I 
only take away that life I have given. No, no,” says he, 
“Seignor Inglese (Mr. Englishman), I will carry you 
thither in charity, and these things will help you to buy 


48 ROBINSON CRUSOE 

your subsistence there, and your pass? ge home again.” 

As he was charitable in this proposal, so he was just 
in the performance to a tittle ; for he ordered the seamen 
that none should offer to touch anything I had. Then 
he took everything into his own possession, and gave me 
back an exact inventory of them, that I might have 
them, even to my three earthen jars. 

As to my boat, it was a very good one; and that he 
saw, and told me he would buy it of me for the ship’s 
use; and asked me what I would have for it. I told 
him he had been so generous to me in everything that I 
could not offer to make any price of the boat, but left 
it entirely to him: upon which, he told me he would give 
me a note of his hand to pay me eighty pieces of eight 
for it at Brazil ; and when it came there, if any one offered 
to give more, he would make it up. He offered me also 
sixty pieces of eight more for my boy Xury, which I was 
loath to take; not that I was unwilling to let the captain 
have him, but I was very loath to sell the poor boy’s 
liberty, who had assisted me so faithfully in procuring 
my own. However, when I let him know my reason, he 
owned it to be just, and offered me this medium, that he 
would give the boy an obligation to set him free in ten 
years, if he turned Christian. Upon this, and Xury say- 
ing he was willing to go to him, I let the captain have him. 

We had a very good voyage to the Brazils, and I 
arrived in the Bay de Todos los Santos, or All Saints 
Bay, in about twenty-two days after. And now I was 
once more delivered from the most miserable of all condi- 
tions of life; and what to do next with myself I was to 
consider. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


49 


The generous treatment the captain gave me I can 
never enough remember. He would take nothing of 
me for my passage, gave me twenty ducats for the 
leopard’s skin, and forty for the lion’s skin, which I had 
in my boat, and caused everything I had in the ship to 
be punctually delivered to me. And what I was willing 
to sell he bought of me: such as the case of bottles, two 
of my guns, and a piece of the lump of beeswax, for I 
had made candles of the rest. In a word, I made about 
two hundred and twenty pieces of eight of all my cargo, 
and with this stock I went on shore in the Brazils. 

I had not been long here, but being recommended to 
the house of a good, honest man, like himself, who had an 
ingenio, as they call it (that is, a plantation and a sugar 
house), I lived with him some time, and acquainted 
myself, by that means, with the manner of their planting 
and making of sugar; and seeing how well the planters 
lived, and how they got rich suddenly, I resolved, if I 
could get a license to settle there, I would turn planter 
among them, resolving in the meantime to find out some 
way to get my money, which I had left in London, 
remitted to me. To this purpose, getting a kind of letter 
of naturalization, I purchased as much land that was 
uncured as my money would reach, and formed a plan 
for my plantation and settlement, — such a one as might 
be suitable to the stock which I proposed to myself to 
receive from England. 

I had a neighbor, a Portuguese of Lisbon, but born of 
English parents, whose name was Wells, and in much 
such circumstances as I was. I call him neighbor, 
because his plantation lay next to mine, and we went on 


4 


50 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


very sociably together. My stock was but low, as well 
as his; and we rather planted for food than anything 
else, for about two years. However, we began to increase, 
and our land began to come into order, so that the third 
year we planted some tobacco, and made each of us a 
large piece of ground ready for planting canes in the year 
to come. But we both wanted help; and now I found, 
more than before, I had done wrong in parting with my 
boy Xury. 

But, alas! for me to do wrong that never did right 
was no great wonder. I had no remedy but to go on. I 
had got into an employment quite remote to my genius 
and directly contrary to the life I delighted in, and for 
which I forsook my father’s house, and broke through all 
his good advice. Nay, I was coming into the very middle 
station, or upper degree of low life, which my father 
advised me to before, and which, if I resolved to go on 
with, I might as well have stayed at home, and never 
fatigued myself in the world, as I have done. And I used 
often to say to myself, “I could have done this as well 
in England, among my friends, as have gone five thousand 
miles off to do it among strangers and savages, in a 
wilderness, and at such a distance as never to hear from 
any part of the world that had the least knowledge of 
me.” 

In this manner I used to look upon my condition 
with the utmost regret. I had nobody to converse with, 
but now and then this neighbor; no work to be done, 
but by the labor of my hands; and I used to say, I lived 
just like a man cast away upon some desolate island, 
that had nobody there but himself. But how just has 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


5i 


it been! and how should all men reflect that when they 
compare their present conditions with others that are 
worse, Heaven may oblige them to make the exchange, 
and be convinced of their former felicity by their expe- 
rience. I say, how just has it been that the truly solitary 
life I reflected on, in an island, or mere desolation, 
should be my lot, who had so often unjustly compared it 
with the life which I then led, in which, had I continued, I 
had, in all probability, been exceeding prosperous and rich. 

I was, in some degree, settled in my measures for 
carrying on the plantation, before my kind friend, the 
captain of the ship that took me up at sea, went back; 
for the ship remained there, in providing her lading and 
preparing for the voyage, near three months; when, 
telling him what little stock I had left behind me in 
London, he gave me this friendly and sincere advice: 
“Seignor Inglese,” says he (for so he always called me), 
“if you will give me letters, and a procuration in form 
to me, with orders to the person who has your money in 
London, to send your effects to Lisbon, to such persons 
as I shall direct, and in such goods as are proper for this 
country, I will bring you the produce of them, God 
willing, at my return; but, since human affairs are all 
subject to changes and disasters, I would have you give 
orders but for one hundred pounds sterling, which, you 
say, is half your stock, and let the hazard be run for the 
first; so that, if it comes safe, you may order the rest 
the same way; and if it miscarry, you may have the 
other half to have recourse to for your supply.” 

This was so wholesome advice, and looked so friendly, 
that I could not but be convinced it was the best course 


52 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I could take; so I accordingly prepared letters to the 
gentleman with whom I had left my money, and a pro- 
curation to the Portuguese captain, as he desired. 

I wrote the English captain’s widow a full account 
of all my adventures, my slavery, escape, and how I had 
met with the Portuguese captain at sea, the humanity 
of his behavior, and what condition I was now in, with 
all other necessary directions for my supply. And when 
this honest captain came to Lisbon he found means, by 
some of the English merchants there, to send over not 
the order only, but a full account of my story, to a mer- 
chant in London, who represented it effectually to her. 
Whereupon she not only delivered the money, but out 
of her own pocket sent the Portugal captain a very 
handsome present for his humanity and charity to me. 

The merchant in London vested this hundred pounds 
in English goods, such as the captain had written for, 
sent them directly to him at Lisbon, and he brought them 
all safe to me to the Brazils; among which, without my 
direction (for I was too young in my business to think of 
them), he had taken care to have all sorts of tools, iron 
work, and utensils necessary for my plantation, and 
which were of great use to me. 

When this cargo arrived I thought my fortune made; 
for I was surprised with the joy of it; and my good 
steward the captain had laid out the five pounds, which 
my friend had sent him for a present for himself, to pur- 
chase and bring me over a servant, under bond for six 
years’ service, and would not accept of any consideration, 
except a little tobacco, which I would have him accept, 
being of my own produce. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


53 


Neither was this all; for my goods being all English 
manufacture, such as cloth, stuffs, baize, and things 
particularly valuable and desirable in the country, I 
found means to sell them at a very great advantage; so 
that I may say I had more than four times the value of 
my first cargo, and was now infinitely beyond my poor 
neighbor — I mean in the advancement of my plantation; 
for the first thing I did, I bought me a negro slave, and 
an European servant also: I mean another besides that 
which the captain brought me from Lisbon. 

But as abused prosperity is oftentimes made the very 
means of our greatest adversity, so was it with me. I 
went on the next year with great success in my plantation. 
I raised fifty great rolls of tobacco on my own ground, 
more than I had disposed of for necessaries among my 
neighbors; and these fifty rolls, being each of above a 
hundredweight, were well cured, and laid by against the 
return of the fleet from Lisbon. And now increasing in 
business and wealth, my head began to be full of projects 
and undertakings beyond my reach; such as are indeed 
often the ruin of the best heads in business. Had I 
continued in the station I was now in, I had room for 
all the happy things to have yet befallen me for which 
my father so earnestly recommended a quiet, retired life, 
and which he had so sensibly described the middle station 
of life to be full of; but other things attended me, and I 
was still to be the willful agent of all my own miseries; 
and particularly, to increase my fault, and double the 
reflections upon myself, which in my future sorrows I 
should have leisure to make; all these miscarriages were 
procured by my apparent obstinate adhering to my foolish 


54 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


inclination of wandering abroad, and pursuing that in- 
clination in contradiction to the clearest views of doing 
myself good in a fair and plain pursuit of those prospects 
and those measures of life which nature and Providence 
concurred to present me with, and to make my duty. 

As I had once done thus in breaking away from my 
parents, so I could not be content now, but I must go 
and leave the happy view I had of being a rich and thriv- 
ing man in my new plantation, only to pursue a rash 
and immoderate desire of rising faster than the nature 
of the thing admitted. And thus I cast myself down 
again into the deepest gulf of human misery that ever 
man fell into, or perhaps could be consistent with life 
and a state of health in the world. 

To come, then, by just degrees to the particulars of 
this part of my story: You may suppose, that having 
now lived almost four years in the Brazils, and beginning 
to thrive and prosper very well upon my plantation, I 
had not only learned the language but had contracted 
acquaintance and friendship among my fellow-planters, 
as well as among the merchants at St. Salvadore, which 
was our port; and that, in my discourse among them, I 
had frequently given them an account of my two voyages 
to the coast of Guinea, the manner of trading with the 
negroes there, and how easy it was to purchase upon the 
coast for trifles — such as beads, toys, knives, scissors, 
hatchets, bits of glass, and the like — not only gold dust, 
Guinea grains, elephants’ teeth, etc., but negroes, for the 
service of the Brazils, in great numbers. 

They listened always very attentively to my discourses 
on these heads, but especially to that part which related 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


55 


to the buying negroes; which was a trade, at that time, 
not only not far entered into, but, as far as it was, had 
been carried on by the assiento, or permission, of the King 
of Spain and Portugal, and engrossed in the public stock; 
so that few negroes were brought, and those excessively 
dear. 

dkf It happened, being in company one day with some 
inerchants and planters of my acquaintance, and talking 
of those things very earnestly, three of them came to 
me the next morning and told me they had been musing 
very much upon what I had discoursed of with them the 
last night, and they came to make a secret proposal to 
me; and after enjoining me to secrecy, they told me that 
they had a mind to fit out a ship to go to Guinea; that 
they had all plantations as well as I, and were straitened 
for nothing so much as servants; that as it was a trade 
that could not be carried on, because they could not 
publicly sell the negroes when they came home, so they 
desired to make but one voyage, to bring the negroes on 
shore privately, and divide them among their own 
plantations; and, in a word, the question was whether I 
would go their supercargo in the ship, to manage the trad- 
ing part upon the coast of Guinea; and they offered me 
that I should have my equal share of the negroes, without 
providing any part of the stock. 

This was a fair proposal, it must be confessed, had it 
been made to any one that had not had a settlement and 
plantation of his own to look after, which was in a fair 
way of coming to be very considerable, and with a good 
stock upon it. But for me, that was thus entered and 
established, and had nothing to do but go on as I had 


56 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


begun, for three or four years more, and to have sent 
for the other hundred pounds from England; and who 
in that time, and with that little addition, could scarce 
have failed of being worth three or four thousand pounds 
sterling, and that increasing too — for me to think of 
such a voyage was the most preposterous thing that ever 
man in such circumstances could be guilty of. 

But I, that was born to be my own destroyer, could no 
more resist the offer than I could restrain my first ram- 
bling designs when my father’s good counsel was lost 
upon me. In a word, I told them I would go with all 
my heart if they would undertake to look after my plan- 
tation in my absence, and would dispose of it as I should 
direct, if I miscarried. This they all engaged to do, 
and entered into writings, or covenants, to do so; and I 
made a formal will, disposing of my plantation and effects 
in case of my death, making the captain of the ship that 
had saved my life, as before, my universal heir, but 
obliging him to dispose of my effects as I had directed 
in my will; one half of the produce being to himself, 
and the other to be shipped to England. 

In short, I took all possible caution to preserve my 
effects, and to keep up my plantation. Had I used 
half as much prudence to have looked into my own 
interest, and have made a judgment of what I ought 
to have done and not to have done, I had certainly never 
gone away from so prosperous an undertaking, leaving 
all the probable views of a thriving circumstance, and 
gone upon a voyage to sea, attended with all its common 
hazards, to say nothing of the reasons I had to expect 
particular misfortunes to myself. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


57 


But I was hurried on, and obeyed blindly the dictates 
of my fancy rather than my reason; and accordingly, 
the ship being fitted out, and the cargo finished, and all 
things done as by agreement by my partners in the 
voyage, I went on board in an evil hour again, the ist of 
September, 1659, being the same day eight years that I 
went from my father and mother at Hull, in order to 
act the rebel to their authority and the fool to my own 
interest. 

Our ship was about one hundred and twenty tons 
burden, carried six guns, and fourteen men besides the 
master, his boy, and myself; we had on board no large 
cargo of goods, except of such toys as were fit for our 
trade with the negroes, such as beads, bits of glass, shells, 
and odd trifles, especially little looking glasses, knives, 
scissors, hatchets, and the like. 

The same day I went on board we set sail, standing 
away to the northward upon our own coasts, with design 
to stretch over for the African coast, when they came 
into about ten or twelve degrees of northern latitude; 
which, it seems, was the manner of their course in those 
days. We had very good weather, only excessively hot, 
all the way upon our own coast, till we came to the height 
of Cape St. Augustino; from whence, keeping farther 
off at sea, we lost sight of land, and steered as if we were 
bound for the Isle of Fernando de Noronha, holding our 
course N.E. by N., and leaving those isles on the east. 
In this course we passed the line in about twelve days’ 
time, and were, by our last observation, in seven degrees 
twenty-two minutes northern latitude, when a violent 
tornado, or hurricane, took us quite out of our knowledge. 


58 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


It began from the southeast, came about to the north- 
west, and then settled into the northeast; from whence 
it blew in such a terrible manner, that for twelve days 
together we could no nothing but drive, and, scudding 
away before it, let it carry us wherever fate and the fury 
of the winds directed; and during these twelve days I 
need not say that I expected every day to be swallowed 
up; nor did any in the ship expect to save their lives. 

In this distress we had, besides the terror of the storm, 
one of bur men die of the calenture, and a man and a boy 
washed overboard. About the twelfth day, the weather 
abating a little, the master made an observation as well 
as he could, and found that he was in about eleven degrees 
of north latitude, but that he was twenty-two degrees of 
longitude difference west from Cape St. Augustino; so 
that he found he was gotten upon the coast of Guiana, 
or the north part of Brazil, beyond the river Amazones, 
towards that of the river Oroonoque, commonly called 
the Great River; and now he began to consult with me 
what course he should take; for the ship was leaky, and 
very much disabled, and he was for going directly back 
to the coast of Brazil. 

I was positively against that; and looking over the 
charts of the seacoast of America with him, we concluded 
there was no inhabited country for us to have recourse 
to till we came within the circle of the Carribbee Islands, 
and therefore resolved to stand away for Barbadoes; 
which, by keeping off at sea, to avoid the indraft of the 
bay or gulf of Mexico, we might easily perform, as we 
hoped, in about fifteen days’ sail; whereas we could not 
possibly make our voyage to the coast of Africa without 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


59 


some assistance both to our ship and to ourselves. 

With this design we changed our course, and steered 
away N.W. by W., in order to reach some of our English 
islands, where I hoped for relief; but our voyage was 
otherwise determined ; for, being in the latitude of twelve 
degrees eighteen minutes, a second storm came upon us, 
which carried us away with the same impetuosity west- 
ward, and drove us so out of the way of all human com- 
merce that, had all our lives been saved as to the sea, we 
were rather in danger of being devoured by savages 
than ever returning to our own country. 

In this distress, the wind still blowing very hard, one 
of our men early one morning cried out, “Land!” and we 
had no sooner run out of the cabin to look out, in hopes 
of seeing whereabouts in the world we were, than the 
ship struck upon the sand, and in a moment, her motion 
being so stopped, the sea broke over her in such a manner 
that we expected we should all have perished immedi- 
ately; and we were even driven into our close quarters, 
to shelter us from the very foam and spray of the sea. 

It is not easy for any one who has not been in the like 
condition to describe or conceive the consternation of 
men in such circumstances. We knew nothing where 
we were, or upon what land it was we were driven; 
whether an island or the main, whether inhabited or 
not inhabited. As the rage of the wind was still great, 
though rather less than at first, we could not so much 
as hope to have the ship hold many minutes without 
breaking in pieces, unless the winds, by a kind of miracle, 
should turn immediately about. In a word, we sat 
looking one upon another, and expecting death every 


6o 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


moment, and every man acting accordingly, as preparing 
for another world; for there was little or nothing more 
for us to do in this; that which was our present comfort, 
and all the comfort we had, was that, contrary to our 
expectation, the ship did not break yet, and that the 
master said the wind began to abate. 

Now, though we thought the wind did a little abate, 
yet the ship having thus struck upon the sand, and 
sticking too fast for us to expect her getting off, we were 
in a dreadful condition indeed, and had nothing to do 
but to think of saving our lives as well as we could. We 
had a boat at our stern just before the storm, but she 
was first staved by dashing against the ship’s rudder, and 
in the next place she broke away, and either sunk, or 
was driven off to sea; so there was no hope from her. 
We had another boat on board; but how to get her off 
into the sea was a doubtful thing; however, there was no 
room to debate, for we fancied the ship would break in 
pieces every minute, and some told us she was actually 
broken already. 

In this distress, the mate of our vessel lays hold of 
the boat, and with the help of the rest of the men, they 
got her flung over the ship’s side; and getting all into 
her, we let go, and committed ourselves, being eleven 
in number, to God’s mercy and the wild sea: for though 
the storm was abated considerably, yet the sea went 
dreadfully high upon the shore, and might be well called 
den wild zee, as the Dutch call the sea in a storm. 

And now our case was very dismal indeed ; for we all 
saw plainly that the sea went so high that the boat could 
not escape, and that we should be inevitably drowned. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


6l 


As to making sail, we had none, nor, if we had, could 
we have done anything with it; so we worked at the oar 
towards the land, though with heavy hearts, like men 
going to execution; for we all knew that when the boat 
came near the shore she would be dashed in a thousand 
pieces by the breach of the sea. However, we committed 
our souls to God in the most earnest manner, and, the 
wind driving us towards the shore, we hastened our 
destruction with our own hands, pulling as well as we 
could towards land. 

What the shore was, whether rock or sand, whether 
steep or shoal, we knew not; the only hope that could 
rationally give us the least shadow of expectation was, 
if we might happen into some bay or gulf, or the mouth 
of some river, where by great chance we might have run 
our boat in, or got under the lee of the land, and perhaps 
made smooth water. But there was nothing of this 
appeared; but as we made nearer and nearer the shore, 
the land looked more frightful than the sea. 

After we had rowed, or rather driven, about a league 
and a half, as we reckoned it, a raging wave, mountain- 
like, came rolling astern of us, and plainly bade us expect 
the coup de grace. In a word, it took us with such a fury 
that it overset the boat at once; and separating us as 
well from the boat as from one another, gave us not time 
hardly to say, “O God!” for we were all swallowed up 
in a moment. 

Nothing can describe the confusion of thought which 
I felt when I sank into the water; for though I swam very 
well, yet I could not deliver myself from the waves so 
as to draw breath, till that wave having driven me, or 


6 2 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


rather carried me, a vast way on towards the shore, and 
having spent itself, went back, and left me upon the land 
almost dry, but half dead with the water I took in. I 
had so much presence of mind, as well as breath left, 
that seeing myself nearer the mainland than I expected, 
I got upon my feet, and endeavored to make on towards 
the land as fast as I could, before another wave should 
return and take me up again; but I soon found it was 
impossible to avoid it; for I saw the sea come after me 
as high as a great hill, and as furious as an enemy, which 
I had no means or strength to contend with : my business 
was to hold my breath, and raise myself upon the water, 
if I could; and so by swimming to preserve my breathing, 
and pilot myself towards the shore if possible, my greatest 
concern now being that the wave, as it would carry me a 
great way towards the shore when it came on, might 
not carry me back again with it when it gave back towards 
the sea. 

The wave that came upon me again buried me at once 
twenty or thirty feet deep in its own body, and I could 
feel myself carried with a mighty force and swiftness 
towards the shore a very great way; but I held my 
breath, and assisted myself to swim still forward with 
all my might. I was ready to burst with holding my 
breath, when as I felt myself rising up, so, to my imme- 
diate relief, I found my head and hands shoot out above 
the surface of the water; and though it was not two 
seconds of time that I could keep myself so, yet it relieved 
me greatly, gave me breath and new courage. I was 
covered again with water a good while, but not so long 
but I held it out; and finding the water had spent itself, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


63 


and began to return, I struck forward against the return 
of the waves, and felt ground again with my feet. I 
stood still a few moments to recover breath, and till 
the waters went from me, and then took to my heels, 
and ran with what strength I had, farther towards the 
shore. But neither would this deliver me from the 
fury of the sea, which came pouring in after me again; 
and twice more I was lifted up by the waves and carried 
forwards as before, the shore being very flat. 

The last time of these two had well-nigh been fatal 
to me; for the sea having hurried me along, as before, 
landed me, or rather dashed me, against a piece of a 
rock, and that with such force as it left me senseless, and 
indeed helpless as to my own deliverance, for the blow 
taking my side and breast, beat the breath as it were 
quite out of my body, and had it returned again imme- 
diately I must have been strangled in the water. But I 
recovered a little before the return of the waves, and 
seeing I should be covered again with water, I resolved 
to hold fast by a piece of the rock, and so to hold my 
breath, if possible, till the wave went back. Now, as 
the waves were not so high as at first, being nearer land, 
I held my hold till the wave abated, and then fetched 
another run, which brought me so near the shore that 
the next wave, though it went over me, yet did not so 
swallow me up as to carry me away; and the next run 
I took I got to the mainland, where, to my great comfort, 
I clambered up the clifts of the shore, and sat me down 
upon the grass, free from danger, and quite out of the 
reach of the water. 

I was now landed, and safe on shore, and began to 


6 4 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


look up and thank God that my life was saved, in a case 
wherein there was some minutes before scarce any room 
to hope. I believe it is impossible to express, to the life, 
what the ecstasies and transports of the soul are when it 
is so saved, as I may say, out of the very grave: and I 
do not wonder now at that custom, when a malefactor, 
who has the halter about his neck, is tied up, and just 
going to be turned off, and has a reprieve brought to 
him — I say, I do not wonder that they bring a surgeon 
with it, to let him bleed that very moment they tell him 
of it, that the surprise may not drive the animal spirits 
from the heart, and overwhelm him, 

For sudden joys, like griefs, confound at first. 

I walked about on the shore, lifting up my hands, and my 
whole being, as I may say, wrapt up in a contemplation 
of my deliverance; making a thousand gestures and 
motions, which I cannot describe ; reflecting upon all my 
comrades that were drowned, and that there should not 
be one soul saved but myself; for, as for them, I never 
saw them afterwards, or any sign of them, except three 
of their hats, one cap, and two shoes that were not 
fellows. 

I cast my eyes to the stranded vessel, when, the breach 
and froth of the sea being so big, I could hardly see it, 
it lay so far off ; and considered, Lord ! how was it possible 
I could get on shore? 

After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable 
part of my condition, I began to look round me, to see 
what kind of place I was in, and what was next to be 
done: and I soon found my comforts abate, and that, 
in a word, I had a dreadful deliverance: for I was wet, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


65 


had no clothes to shift me, nor anything either to eat 
or drink, to comfort me; neither did I see any prospect 
before me but that of perishing with hunger, or being 
devoured by wild beasts : and that which was particularly 
afflicting to me was that I had no weapon, either to 
hunt and kill any creature for my sustenance, or to 
defend myself against any other creature that might 
desire to kill me for theirs. In a word, I had nothing 
about me but a knife, a tobacco pipe, and a little tobacco 
in a box. This was all my provision; and this threw 
me into terrible agonies of mind, that for a while I ran 
about like a madman. Night coming upon me, I began, 
with a heavy heart, to consider what would be my lot 
if there were any ravenous beasts in that country, 
seeing at night they always come abroad for their prey. 

All the remedy that offered to my thoughts, at that 
time, was to get up into a thick, bushy tree, like a fir, 
but thorny, which grew near me, and where I resolved 
to sit all night, and consider the next day what death I 
should die, for as yet I saw no prospect of life. I walked 
about a furlong from the shore, to see if I could find any 
fresh water to drink, which I did, to my great joy; and 
having drunk, and put a little tobacco in my mouth to 
prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and getting up into 
it, endeavored to place myself so that if I should sleep 
I might not fall. And having cut me a short stick, like 
a trucheon, for my defense, I took up my lodging; and 
being excessively fatigued, I fell fast asleep, and slept 
as comfortably as, I believe, few could have done in my 
condition, and found myself more refreshed with it than 
I think I ever was on such an occasion. 

5 


66 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


When I waked it was broad day, the weather clear, 
and the storm abated, so that the sea did not rage and 
swell as before; but that which surprised me most was, 
that the ship was lifted off in the night from the sand 
where she lay, by the swelling of the tide, and was driven 
up almost as far as the rock which I at first mentioned, 
where I had been so bruised by the wave dashing me 
against it. This being within about a mile from the 
shore where I was, and the ship seeming to stand upright 
still, I wished myself on board, that at least I might save 
some necessary things for my use. 

When I came down from my apartment in the tree I 
looked about me again, and the first thing I found was the 
boat, which lay, as the wind and sea had tossed her up, 
upon the land, about two miles on my right hand. I 
walked as far as I could upon the shore to have got to her; 
but found a neck or inlet of water between me and the 
boat which was about half a mile broad ; so I came back for 
the present, being more intent upon getting at the ship, 
where I hoped to find something for my present subsistence. 

A little after noon I found the sea very calm, and the 
tide ebbed so far out that I could come within a quarter 
of a mile of the ship. And here I found a fresh renewing 
of my grief; for I saw evidently that, if we had kept on 
board, we had been all safe; that is to say, we had all got 
safe on shore, and I had not been so miserable as to be 
left entirely destitute of all comfort and company, as I 
now was. This forced tears to my eyes again; but as 
there was little relief in that, I resolved, if possible, to 
get to the ship. So I pulled off my clothes, for the 
weather was hot to extremity, and took to the water. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


67 


But when I came to the ship my difficulty was still 
greater to know how to get on board; for, as she lay 
aground, and high out of the water, there was nothing 
within my reach to lay hold of. I swam round her twice, 
and the second time I espied a small piece of rope, which 
I wondered I did not see at first, hanging down by the 
fore-chains so low that with great difficulty I got hold 
of it, and by the help of that rope got up into the fore- 
castle of the ship. Here I found that the ship was bulged, 
and had a great deal of water in her hold; but that she 
lay so on the side of a bank of hard sand, or rather earth, 
that her stem lay lifted up upon the bank, and her head 
low, almost to the water. By this means all her quarter 
was free and all that was in that part was dry; for you 
may be sure my first work was to search, and to see what 
was spoiled and what was free. And, first, I found that 
all the ship’s provisions were dry and untouched by the 
water, and being very well disposed to eat, I went to the 
bread room, and filled my pockets with biscuit, and ate 
it as I went about other things, for I had no time to lose. 
I also found some rum in the great cabin, of which I 
took a large dram, and which I had, indeed, need enough 
of to spirit me for what was before me. Now I wanted 
nothing but a boat, to furnish myself with many things 
which I foresaw would be very necessary to me. 

It was in vain to sit still and wish for what was not 
to be had; and this extremity roused my application. 
We had several spare yards, and two or three large spars 
of wood, and a spare topmast or two in the ship: I re- 
solved to fall to work with them, and I flung as many of 
them overboard as I could manage for their weight, 


68 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


tying every one with a rope, that they might not drive 
away. When this was done, I went down the ship’s 
side, and pulling them to me, I tied four of them together 
at both ends, as well as I could, in the form of a raft, 
and laying two or three short pieces of plank upon them, 
crossways, I found I could walk upon it very well, but 
that it was not able to bear any great weight, the pieces 
being too light. So I went to work, and with the car- 
penter’s saw I cut a spare topmast into three lengths, 
and added them to my raft, with a great deal of labor 
and pains. But the hope of furnishing myself with 
necessaries encouraged me to go beyond what I should 
have been able to have done upon another occasion. 

My raft was now strong enough to bear any reasonable 
weight. My next care was what to load it with, and how 
to preserve what I laid upon it from the surf of the sea: 
but I was not long in considering this. I first laid all the 
planks or boards upon it that I could get, and having 
considered well what I most wanted, I first got three of 
the seamen’s chests, which I had broken open and 
emptied, and lowered them down upon my raft; the 
first of these I filled with provisions — viz., bread, rice, 
three Dutch cheeses, five pieces of dried goat’s flesh 
(which we lived much upon), and a little remainder of 
European corn, which had been laid by for some fowls 
which we brought to sea with us, but the fowls were 
killed. There had been some barley and wheat together; 
but, to my great disappointment, I found afterwards that 
the rats had eaten or spoiled it all. As for liquors, I 
found several cases of bottles belonging to our skipper, 
in which were some cordial waters; and in all, about 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


69 


five or six gallons of arrack. These I stowed by them- 
selves, there being no need to put them into the chest, 
nor any room for them. While I was doing this, I 
found the tide began to flow, though very calm; and I 
had the mortification to see my coat, shirt, and waist- 
coat, which I had left on shore upon the sand, swim 
away. As for my breeches, which were only linen, and 
open-kneed, I swam on board in them and my stockings. 
However, this put me upon rummaging for clothes, of 
which I found enough, but took no more than I wanted 
for present use, for I had other things which my eye was 
more upon; as, first, tools to work with on shore; and 
it was after long searching that I found out the car- 
penter’s chest, which was indeed a very useful prize to 
me, and much more valuable than a ship-lading of gold 
would have been at that time. I got it down to my raft, 
whole as it was, without losing time to look into it, for 
I knew in general what it contained. 

My next care was for some ammunition and arms. 
There were two very good fowling pieces in the great 
cabin, and two pistols. These I secured first, with some 
powder horns, a small bag of shot, and two old rusty 
swords. I knew there were three barrels of powder in 
the ship, but knew not where our gunner had stowed 
them; but with much search I found them, two of them 
dry and good, the third had taken water. Those two I 
got to my raft, with the arms. And now I thought 
myself pretty well freighted, and began to think how 
I should get to shore with them, having neither sail, oar, 
nor rudder; and the least capful of wind would have 
overset all my navigation. 


70 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I had three encouragements: first, a smooth, calm 
sea; secondly, the tide rising, and setting in to the shore; 
thirdly, what little wind there was blew me towards the 
land." And thus, having found two or three broken oars 
belonging to the boat, and besides the tools which were 
in the chest, two saws, an ax, and a hammer. With this 
cargo I put to sea. For a mile, or thereabouts, my raft 
went very well, only that I found it drive a little distant 
from the place where I had landed before; by which I 
perceived that there was some indraft of the water, 
and consequently, I hoped to find some creek or river 
there, which I might make use of as a port to get to land 
with my cargo. 

As I imagined, so it was. There appeared before me 
a little opening of the land. I found a strong current 
of the tide set into it; so I guided my raft as well as I 
could, to keep in the middle of the stream. 

But here I had like to have suffered a second ship- 
wreck, which, if I had, I think verily would have broken 
my heart; for knowing nothing of the coast, my raft 
ran aground at one end of it upon a shoal, and not being 
aground at the other end, it wanted but a little that all 
my cargo had slipped off towards the end that was afloat, 
and so fallen into the water. I did my utmost, by 
setting my back against the chests, to keep them in 
their places, but could not thrust off the raft with all 
my strength; neither durst I stir from the posture I was 
in; but holding up the chests with all my might, I stood 
in that manner near half an hour, in which time the rising 
of the water brought me a little more upon a level; and, 
a little after, the water still rising, my raft floated again, 



W ith this cargo I pat to sea 









ROBINSON CRUSOE 


7 1 


and I thrust her off with the oar I had into the channel, 
and then driving up higher, I at length found myself in 
the mouth of a little river, with land on both sides, and 
a strong current or tide running up. I looked on both 
sides for a proper place to get to shore, for I was not 
willing to be driven too high up the river; hoping in 
time to see some ship at sea, and therefore resolved to 
place myself as near the coast as I could. 

At length I spied a little cove on the right shore of the 
creek, to which, with great pain and difficulty, I guided 
my raft, and at last got so near that, reaching ground 
with my oar, I could thrust her directly in. But here I 
had like to have dipped all my cargo into the sea again ; 
for that shore lying pretty steep — that is to say, sloping 
— there was no place to land, but where one end of my 
float, if it ran on shore, would lie so high, and the other 
sink lower, as before, that it would endanger my cargo 
again. All that I could do was to wait till the tide was 
at the highest, keeping the raft with my oar like an anchor, 
to hold the side of it fast to the shore, near a flat piece 
of ground, which I expected the water would flow over; 
and so it did. As soon as I found water enough, for my 
raft drew about a foot of water, I thrust her upon that 
flat piece of ground, and there fastened or moored her, 
by sticking my two broken oars into the ground — one 
on one side, near one end, and one on the other side, 
near the other end; and thus I lay till the water ebbed 
away, and left my raft and all my cargo safe on shore. 

My next work was to view the country, and seek a 
proper place for my habitation, and where to stow my 
goods, to secure them from whatever might happen. 


72 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


Where I was I yet knew not; whether on the continent 
or an island ; whether inhabited or not inhabited ; whether 
in danger of wild beasts or not. There was a hill not 
above a mile from me, which rose up very steep and 
high, and which seemed to overtop some other hills, 
which lay as in a ridge from it, northward. I took out 
one of the fowling pieces, and one of the pistols, and a 
horn of powder; and thus armed I traveled for discovery 
up to the top of that hill, where, after I had with great 
labor and difficulty got to the top, I saw my fate, to my 
great affliction — viz., that I was in an island environed 
every way with the sea: no land to be seen except some 
rocks, which lay a great way off, and two small islands, less 
than this, which lay about three leagues to the west. 

I found also that the island I was in was barren, and, 
as I saw good reason to believe, uninhabited, except by 
wild beasts, of which, however, I saw none. Yet I saw 
abundance of fowls, but knew not their kinds; neither, 
when I killed them, could I tell what was fit for food, 
and what not. At my coming back I shot at a great 
bird which I saw sitting upon a tree, on the side of a 
great wood. I believe it was the first gun that had been 
fired there since the creation of the world. I had no 
sooner fired but from all the parts of the wood there 
arose an innumerable number of fowls of many sorts, 
making a confused screaming and crying, every one 
according to his usual note, but not one of them of any 
kind that I knew. As for the creature I killed, I took 
it to be a kind of a hawk, its color and beak resembling 
it, but it had no talons or claws more than common. 
Its flesh was carrion, and fit for nothing. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


73 


Contented with this discovery, I came back to my 
raft and fell to work to bring my cargo on shore, which 
took me up the rest of the day. What to do with myself 
at night I knew not, nor indeed where to rest, for I was 
afraid to lie down on the ground, not knowing but some 
wild beast might devour me; though, as I afterwards 
found, there was really no need for those fears. 

However, as well as I could I barricaded myself 
round with the chests and boards that I had brought 
on shore, and made a kind of hut for that night’s lodg- 
ing. As for food, I yet saw not which way to supply 
myself, except that I had seen two or three creatures, 
like hares, run out of the wood where I shot the fowl. 

I now began to consider that I might yet get a great 
many things out of the ship which would be useful to 
me, and particularly some of the rigging and sails, and 
such other things as might come to land; and I resolved 
to make another voyage on board the vessel, if possible. 
And as I knew that the first storm that blew must neces- 
sarily break her all in pieces, I resolved to set all other 
things apart till I got everything out of the ship that I 
could get. Then I called a council — that is, to say, in 
my thoughts — whether I should take back the raft; but 
this appeared impracticable. So I resolved to go as 
before, when the tide was down; and I did so, only that 
I stripped before I went from my hut, having nothing 
on but a checkered shirt, a pair of linen drawers, and a 
pair of pumps on my feet. 

I got on board the ship as before, and prepared a 
second raft; and, having had experience of the first, I 
neither made this so unwieldy nor loaded it so hard, but 


74 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


yet I brought away several things very useful to me; as, 
first, in the carpenter’s stores I found two or three bags 
full of nails and spikes, a great screw-jack, a dozen or 
two of hatchets, and, above all, that most useful thing 
called a grindstone. All these I secured, together with 
several things belonging to the gunner, particularly two 
or three iron crows, and two barrels of musket bullets, 
seven muskets, and another fowling piece, with some 
small quantity of powder more, a large bagful of small 
shot, and a great roll of sheet lead; but this last was so 
heavy I could not hoist it up to get it over the ship’s 
side. 

Besides these things, I took all the men’s clothes 
that I could find, and a spare fore-topsail, a hammock, 
and some bedding; and with this I loaded my second 
raft, and brought them all safe on shore, to my very great 
comfort. 

I was under some apprehension during my absence 
from the land that at least my provisions might be 
devoured on shore; but when I came back I found no 
sign of any visitor; only there sat a creature like a wildcat 
upon one of the chests, which when I came towards it, 
ran away a little distance, and then stood still. She sat 
very composed and unconcened, and looked full in my 
face, as if she had a mind to be acquainted with me. 
I presented my gun to her, but, as she did not understand 
it, she was perfectly unconcerned at it, nor did she offer 
to stir away; upon which I tossed her a bit of biscuit, 
though, by the way, I was not very free of it, for my store 
was not great; however, I spared her a bit, I say, and 
she went to it, smelled at it, and ate it, and looked (as 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


75 

pleased) for more; but I thanked her, and could spare 
no more; so she marched off. 

Having got my second cargo on shore — though I was 
obliged to open the barrels of powder, and bring them by 
parcels, for they were too heavy, being large casks — 
I went to work to make me a little tent, with the sail 
and some poles which I cut for that purpose; and into 
this tent I brought everything that I knew would spoil 
either with rain or sun; and I piled all the empty chests 
and casks up in a circle round the tent, to fortify it from 
any sudden attempt, either from man or beast. 

When I had done this, I blocked up the door of the 
tent with some boards within, and an empty chest set 
up on end without; and spreading one of the beds upon 
the ground, laying my two pistols just at my head, and 
my gun at length by me, I went to bed the first time, 
and slept very quietly all night. I was very weary and 
heavy; for the night before I had slept little, and had 
labored very hard all day, as well to fetch those things 
from the ship as to get them on shore. 

I had the biggest magazine of all kinds now that ever 
was laid up, I believe, for one man; but still I was not 
satisfied, for while the ship sat upright in that posture I 
thought I ought to get everything out of her that I 
could; so every day, at low water, I went on board, and 
brought away something or other; but particularly, the 
third time I went, I brought away as much of the rigging 
as I could, as also all the small ropes and rope twine I 
could get, with a piece of spare canvas, which was to 
mend the sails upon occasion, and the barrel of wet 
gunpowder. In a word, I brought away all the sails, 


7 6 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


first and last ; only that I was fain to cut them in pieces, 
and bring as much at a time as I could, for they were no 
more useful to me for sails, but as mere canvas only. 

But that which comforted me more still was, that at 
last of all, after I had made five or six such voyages as 
these, and thought I had nothing more to expect from 
the ship that was worth my meddling with — I say, 
after all thus, I found a great hogshead of bread, three 
large runlets of rum, or spirits, a box of fine sugar, and 
a barrel of fine flour: this was surprising to me, because 
I had given over expecting any more provisions except 
what was spoiled by the water. I soon emptied the 
hogshead of the bread, and wrapped it up, parcel by 
parcel, in pieces of the sails, which I cut out; and, in a 
word, I got all this safe on shore also, though at several 
times. 

The next day I made another voyage, and now, having 
plundered the ship of what was portable and fit to hand 
out, I began with the cable; cutting the great cable into 
pieces such as I could move, I got two cables and a hawser 
on shore, with all the ironwork I could get ; and having 
cut down the spritsail-yard and the mizzen-yard, and 
everything I could to make a large raft, I loaded it with 
all those heavy goods and came away; but my good luck 
began to leave me, for this raft was so unwieldy, and so 
overladen, that after I was entered the little cove, where 
I had landed the rest of my goods, not being able to guide 
it so handily as I did the other, it overset, and threw me 
and all my cargo into the water; as for myself, it was 
no great harm, for I was near the shore; but as to my 
cargo, it was great part lost, especially the iron, which I 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


77 


expected would have been of great use to me; however, 
when the tide was out I got most of the pieces of cable 
ashore, and some of the iron, though with infinite labor; 
for I was fain to dip for it into the water, a work which 
fatigued me very much. After this, I went every day 
on board, and brought away what I could get. 

I had now been thirteen days on shore, and had been 
eleven times on board the ship, in which time I had 
brought away all that one pair of hands could well be 
supposed capable of bringing; though I verily believe, 
had the calm weather held, I should have brought away 
the whole ship, piece by piece; but preparing the twelfth 
time to go on board, I found the wind began to rise; 
however, at low water I went on board, and though I 
thought I had rummaged the cabin so effectually that 
nothing more could be found, yet I discovered a locker 
with drawers in it, in one of which I found two or three 
razors, and one pair of large scissors, with some ten or a 
dozen of good knives and forks; in another I found about 
thirty-six pounds’ value in money — some European coin, 
some Brazil, some pieces of eight, some gold, and some 
silver. 

I smiled to myself at the sight of this money. “Oh, 
drug!’’ said I aloud, “what art thou good for? Thou 
art not worth to me — no, not the taking off the ground; 
one of those knives is worth all this heap. I have no 
manner of use for thee; e’en remain where thou art, and 
go to the bottom, as a creature whose life is not worth 
saving.” However, upon second thoughts, I took it 
away; and wrapping all in a piece of canvas, I began to 
think of making another raft; but while I was preparing 


78 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


this, I found the sky overcast, and the wind began to 
rise, and in a quarter of an hour it blew a fresh gale from 
the shore. It presently occurred to me that it was in 
vain to pretend to make a raft with the wind offshore; 
and that it was my business to be gone before the tide 
of flood began, otherwise I might not be able to reach 
the shore at all. Accordingly, I let myself down into the 
water, and swam across the channel which lay between 
the ship and the sands, and even that with difficulty 
enough, partly with the weight of the things I had about 
me, and partly from the roughness of the water; for the 
wind rose very hastily, and before it was quite high water 
it blew a storm. 

But I was gotten home to my little tent, where I lay, 
with all my wealth about me very secure. It blew very 
hard all that night, and in the morning, when I looked 
out, behold, no more ship was to be seen. I was a little 
surprised, but recovered myself with this satisfactory 
reflection, that I had lost no time, nor abated any dili- 
gence, to get everything out of her that could be useful 
to me; and that, indeed, there was little left in her that 
I was able to bring away, if I had had more time. 

I now gave over any more thoughts of the ship, or 
of anything out of her, except what might drive on shore 
from her wreck; as, indeed, divers pieces of her after- 
wards did; but those things were of small use to me. 

My thoughts were now wholly employed about secur- 
ing myself against either savages, if any should appear, 
or wild beasts, if any were in the island ; and I had many 
thoughts of the method how to do this, and what kind 
of dwelling to make — whether I should make me a cave 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


79 


in the earth, or a tent upon the earth; and, in short, I 
resolved upon both ; the manner and description of which 
it may not be improper to give an account of. 

I soon found the place I was in was not fit for my 
settlement, particularly because it was upon a low moor- 
ish ground near the sea, and I believed would not be 
wholesome, and more particularly because there was no 
fresh water near it ; so I resolved to find a more healthy 
and more convenient spot of ground. 

I consulted several things in my situation which I 
found would be proper for me: first, health and fresh 
water, I just now mentioned; secondly, shelter from the 
heat of the sun ; thirdly, security from ravenous creatures, 
whether man or beast; fourthly, a view to the sea, that 
if God sent any ship in sight I might not lose any advan- 
tage for my deliverance, of which I was not willing to 
banish my expectation yet. 

In search of a place proper for this I found a little 
plain on the side of a rising hill, whose front towards this 
little plain was steep as a house-side, so that nothing 
could come down upon me from the top. On the side 
of the rock there was a hollow place, worn a little way in, 
like the entrance or door of a cave; but there was not 
really any cave, or way into the rock, at all. 

On the flat of the green, just below this hollow place, 
I resolved to pitch my tent. This plain was not above 
a hundred yards broad, and about twice as long, and lay 
like a green before my door; and, at the end of it, de- 
scended irregularly every way down into the low ground 
by the seaside. It was on the N.N.W. side of the hill; 
so that it was sheltered from the heat every day, till it 


8o 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


came to the W. and by S. sun, or thereabouts, which, 
in those countries, is near the setting. 

Before I set up my tent I drew a half-circle before the 
hollow place, which took in about ten yards in its semi- 
diameter from the rock, and twenty yards in its diameter 
from its beginning and ending. 

In this half-circle I pitched two rows of strong stakes, 
driving them into the ground till they stood very firm, 
like piles, the biggest end being out of the ground above 
five feet and a half, and sharpened on the top. The two 
rows did not stand above six inches from one another. 

Then I took the pieces of cable which I had cut in 
the ship, and laid them in rows, upon one another, within 
the circle, between these two rows of stakes, up to the 
top, placing other stakes in the inside, leaning against 
them, about two feet and a half high, like a spur to a 
post; and this fence was so strong that neither man nor 
beast could get into it or over it. This cost me a great 
deal of time and labor, especially to cut the piles in the 
woods, bring them to the place, and drive them into the 
earth. 

The entrance into this place I made to be, not by a 
door, but by a short ladder to go over the top; which 
ladder, when I was in, I lifted over after me; and so I 
was completely fenced in and fortified, as I thought, 
from all the world, and consequently slept secure in the 
night, which otherwise I could not have done; though, 
as it appeared afterwards, there was no need of all this 
caution from the enemies that I apprehended danger 
from. 

Into this fence, or fortress, with infinite labor I carried 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


81 

all my riches, all my provisions, ammunition, and stores, 
of which you have the account above; and I made me 
a large tent also, to preserve me from the rains, that in 
one part of the year are very violent there. I made it 
double — viz., one smaller tent within, and one larger 
tent above it; and covered the uppermost part of it 
with a large tarpaulin, which I had saved among the 
sails. 

And now I lay no more for a while in the bed which I 
had brought on shore, but in a hammock, which was 
indeed a very good one, and belonged to the mate of the 
ship. 

Into this tent I brought all my provisions, and every- 
thing that would spoil by the wet; and having thus 
inclosed all my goods, I made up the entrance, which till 
now I had left open, and so passed and repassed, as I 
said, by a short ladder. 

When I had done this, I began to work my way into 
the rock, and bringing all the earth and stones that I dug 
down, out through my tent, I laid them up within my 
fence, in the nature of a terrace, so that it raised the 
ground within about a foot and a half ; and thus I made 
me a cave, just behind my tent, which served me like a 
cellar to my house. 

It cost me much labor and many days before all these 
things were brought to perfection; and therefore I must 
go back to some other things which took up some of my 
thoughts. At the same time it occurred, after I had laid 
my scheme for the setting up the tent, and making the 
cave, that a storm of rain falling from a thick, dark 
cloud, a sudden flash of lightning happened, and after 

6 


82 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


that, a great clap of thunder, as is naturally the effect 
of it. I was not so much surprised with the lightning, 
as I was with the thought which darted into my mind 
as swift as the lightning itself. “Oh, my powder!” 
My very heart sank within me, when I thought that, at 
one blast, all my powder might be destroyed; on which 
not my defense only, but the providing me food, as I 
thought, entirely depended. I was nothing near so 
anxious about my own danger; though, had the powder 
took fire, I had never known who had hurt me. J 

Such impression did this make upon me that, after 
the storm was over, I laid aside all my work, my building 
and fortifying, and applied myself to make bags and boxes 
to separate my powder, and to keep it a little and a little 
in a parcel, in hopes, that whatever might come, it might 
not all take fire at once; and to keep it so apart that it 
should not be possible to make one part fire another. I 
finished this work in about a fortnight; and I think my 
powder, which in all was about one hundred and forty 
pounds’ weight, was divided into no less than a hundred 
parcels. As to the barrel that had been wet, I did not 
apprehend any danger from that ; so I placed it in my new 
cave, which, in my fancy, I called my kitchen; and the 
rest I hid up and down in holes among the rocks, so that 
no wet might come to it, marking very carefully where 
I had laid it. 

In the interval of time while this was doing, I went 
out at least once every day with my gun, as well to divert 
myself as to see if I could kill anything fit for food; 
and, as near as I could, to acquaint myself with what the 
island produced. The first time I went out I presently 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


83 


discovered that there were goats in the island, which was 
a great satisfaction to me ; but then it was attended with 
this misfortune to me, viz., that they were so shy, so 
subtle, and so swift of foot that it was the most difficult 
thing in the world to come at them; but I was not dis- 
couraged at this, not doubting but I might now and then 
shoot one, as it soon happened; for after I had found 
their haunts a little, I laid wait in this manner for them : 
I observed if they saw me in the valleys, though they 
were upon the rocks, they would run away, as in a terrible 
fright; but if they were feeding in the valleys, and I 
was upon the rocks, they took no notice of me; from 
whence I concluded that, by the position of their optics, 
their sight was so directed downward that they did not 
readily see objects that were above them; so afterwards 
I took this method — I always climbed the rocks first, to 
get above them, and then had frequently a fair mark. 

The first shot I made among these creatures I killed 
a she-goat, which had a little kid by her, which she gave 
suck to, which grieved me heartily; for, when the old 
one fell, the kid stood stock still by her, till I came and 
took her up ; and not only so, but when I carried the old 
one with me upon my shoulders, the kid followed me 
quite to my inclosure; upon which I laid down the dam, 
and took the kid in my arms, and carried it over my pale, 
in hopes to have bred it up tame ; but it would not eat ; 
so I was forced to kill it and ate it myself. These two 
supplied me with flesh a great while, for I aet sparingly, 
and saved my provisions, my bread especially, as much 
as I possibly could. 

Having now fixed my habitation, I found it absolutely 


8 4 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


necessary to provide a place to make a fire in, and fuel to 
burn ; and what I did for that, as also how I enlarged my 
cave, and what conveniences I made, I shall give a full 
account of in its place; but I must now give some little 
account of myself, and of my thoughts about living, 
which, it may well be supposed, were not a few. 

I had a dismal prospect of my condition, for as I was 
not cast away upon that island without being driven, as 
is said, by a violent storm quite out of the course of our 
intended voyage, and a great way, viz., some hundreds 
of leagues, out of the ordinary course of the trade of 
mankind, I had great reason to consider it as a deter- 
mination of Heaven that in this desolate place, and in 
this desolate manner, I should end my life. The tears 
would run plentifully down my face when I made these 
reflections: and sometimes I would expostulate with 
myself why Providence should thus completely ruin its 
creatures, and render them so absolutely miserable, so 
without help abandoned, and so entirely depressed, that 
it could hardly be rational to be thankful for such a life. 

But something always returned swift upon me to 
check these thoughts, and to reprove me; and particu- 
larly one day, walking with my gun in my hand by the 
seaside, I was very pensive upon the subject of my 
present condition, when Reason, as it were, put in 
expostulating with me the other way, thus: “Well, 
you are in a desolate condition, it is true; but, pray 
remember, where are the rest of you? Did not you come 
eleven of you into the boat? Where are the ten? Why 
were not they saved, and you lost? Why are you 
singled out? Is it better to be here or there?” And then 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


85 


I pointed to the sea. All evils are to be considered with 
the good that is in them and with what worse attended 
them. 

/A -'..Then it occurred to me again how well I was furnished 
Tor my subsistence, and what would have been my case 
if it had not happened (which was a hundred thousand 
to one) that the ship floated from the place where first 
she struck, and was driven so near to the shore that I 
had time to get all these things out of her? What 
would have been my case if I had been forced to have 
lived in the condition in which I at first came on shore, 
without necessaries of life, or any means to supply and 
procure them? “Particularly,” said I aloud (though to 
myself), “what should I have done without a gun, with- 
out ammunition, without any tools to make anything, 
or to work with, without clothes, bedding, a tent, or 
any manner of coverings?” And that now I had all 
these to a sufficient quantity, and was in a fair way to 
provide myself in such a manner as to live without my 
gun, when my ammunition was spent: so that I had a 
tolerable view of subsisting without any want as long as 
I lived; for I considered from the beginning how I 
would provide for the accidents that might happen, and 
for the time that was to come, even not only after my 
ammunition should be spent, but even after my health 
and strength should decay. 

I confess I had not then entertained any notion of 
my ammunition being destroyed at one blast — I mean, 
my powder being blown up by lightning; and this made 
the thought of it surprising to me, when it lightened and 
thundered, as I observed just now. 


86 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


And now, being about to enter into a melancholy 
relation of a scene of silent life, such, perhaps, as was 
never heard of in the world before, I shall take it from 
its beginning, and continue it in its order. It was, by 
my account, the 30th of September, when, in the manner 
as above said, I first set foot upon this horrid island ; when 
the sun being to us in its autumnal equinox, was almost 
just over my head ; for I reckoned myself, by observation, 
to be in the latitude of nine degrees twenty-two minutes 
north of the line. 

After I had been there about ten or twelve days it 
came into my thoughts that I should lose my reckoning 
of time for want of books, and pen, and ink, and should 
even forget the Sabbath day from the working days; 
but to prevent this I cut it with my knife upon a large 
post, in capital letters; and making it into a great cross, 
I set it up on the shore where I first landed, viz., “ I came 
on shore here on the 30th of September, 1659.” 

Upon the sides of this square post I cut every day a 
notch with my knife, and every seventh notch was as 
long again as the rest, and every first day of the month 
as long again as that long one; and thus I kept my 
calendar, or weekly, monthly, and yearly reckoning of 
time. 

In the next place, we are to observe that, among the 
many things which I brought from the ship in the several 
voyages which, as above mentioned, I made to it, I got 
several things of less value, but not at all less useful 
to me, which I omitted setting down before; as, in par- 
ticular, pens, ink, and paper; several parcels in the cap- 
tain’s, mate’s, gunner’s, and carpenter’s keeping; three 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


87 


or four compasses, some mathematical instruments, dials, 
perspectives, charts, and books of navigation; all which 
I huddled together, whether I might want them or no; 
also I found three very good Bibles, which came to me 
in my cargo from England, and which I had packed up 
among my things; some Portuguese books also; and, 
among them, two or three Popish prayer books, and 
several other books; all which I carefully secured. And 
I must not forget that we had in the ship a dog and two 
cats, of whose eminent history I must have occasion to 
say something in its place, for I carried both the cats 
with me; and as for the dog, he jumped out of the ship 
of himself, and swam on shore to me the day after I 
went on shore with my first cargo, and was a trusty 
servant to me many years; I wanted nothing that he 
could fetch me, nor any company that he could make up 
to me; I only wanted to have him talk to me, but that 
he could not do. As I observed before, I found pens, 
ink, and paper, and I husbanded them to the utmost; 
and I shall show that while my ink lasted I kept things 
very exact; but after that was gone I could not, for I 
could not make any ink by any means that I could devise. 

And this put me in mind that I wanted many things, 
notwithstanding all that I had amassed together; and 
of these, ink was one: as also a spade, pick-ax, and shovel, 
to dig or remove the earth; needles, pins, and thread; 
as for linen, I soon learned to want that without much 
difficulty. 

This want of tools made every work I did go on 
heavily; and it was near a whole year before I had 
entirely finished my little pale, or surrounded habitation. 


88 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


The piles or stakes, which were as heavy as I could well 
lift, were a long time in cutting and preparing in the 
woods, and more, by far, in bringing home; so that I 
spent sometimes two days in cutting and bringing home 
one of those posts, and a third day in driving it into the 
ground; for which purpose I got a heavy piece of wood 
at first, but at last bethought myself of one of the iron 
crows; which, however, though I found it, yet made 
driving those posts or piles very laborious and tedious 
work. But what need I have been concerned at the 
tediousness of anything I had to do, seeing I had time 
enough to do it in? Nor had I any other employment, 
if that had been over, at least that I could foresee, except 
the ranging the island to seek for food, which I did, more 
or less, every day. 

I now began to consider seriously my condition, and 
the circumstances I was reduced to; and I drew up the 
state of my affairs in writing, not so much to leave them 
to any that were to come after me, for I was like to have 
but few heirs, as to deliver my thoughts from daily 
poring upon them, and afflicting my mind. And as my 
reason began now to master my despondency, I began 
to comfort myself as well as I could, and to set the good 
against the evil, that I might have something to dis- 
tinguish my case from worse, and I stated it very impar- 
tially, like debtor and creditor, the comfort I enjoyed, 
against the miseries I suffered, thus : 

EVIL 

I am cast upon a horrible, desolate island; void of all hope 
of recovery. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 89 

I am singled out and separated, as it were, from all the world, to 
be miserable. 

I am divided from mankind, a solitary; one banished from 
human society. 

I have no clothes to cover me. 

I am without any defense, or means to resist any violence of man 
or beast. 

I have no soul to speak to or relieve me. 

GOOD 

But I am alive, and not drowned, as all my ship’s company was. 

But I am singled out, too, from all the ship’s crew, to be spared 
from death; and He that miraculously saved me from death can 
deliver me from this condition. 

But I am not starved and perishing on a barren place, affording no 
sustenance. 

But I am in a hot climate, where if I had clothes I could hardly 
wear them. 

But I am cast on an island where I see no wild beasts to hurt me, 
as I saw on the coast of Africa; and what if I had been shipwrecked 
there ? 

But God wonderfully sent the ship in near enough to the 
shore, that I have got out so many necessary things as will either 
supply my wants or enable me to supply myself even as long as 
I live. 

Upon the whole, here was an undoubted testimony 
that there was scarce any condition in the world so miser- 
able but there was something negative, or something 
positive, to be thankful for in it : and let this stand as a 
direction, from the experience of the most miserable of 
all conditions in this world — that we may always find 
in it something to comfort ourselves from, and to set, 
in the description of good and evil, on the credit side of 
the account. 


90 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


Having now brought my mind a little to relish my 
condition, and giving over looking out to sea to see if I 
could spy a ship ; I say, giving over these things, I began 
to apply myself to accommodate my way of living, and 
to make things as easy to me as I could. 

I have already described my habitation, which was a 
tent under the side of a rock, surrounded with a strong 
pale of posts and cables; but I might now rather call it 
a wall, for I raised a kind of wall up against it of turfs, 
about two feet thick on the outside: and after some time 
(I think it was a year and a half) I raised rafters from it, 
leaning to the rock, and thatched or covered it with 
boughs of trees, and such things as I could get to keep 
out the rain, which I found at some times of the year 
very violent. 

I have already observed how I brought all my goods 
into this pale, and into the cave which I had made 
behind me. But I must observe, too, that at first this 
was a confused heap of goods, which, as they lay in no 
order, so they took up all my place; I had no room to 
turn myself. So I set myself to enlarge my cave, and 
worked farther into the earth; for it was a loose, sandy 
rock, which yielded easily to the labor I bestowed on it: 
and so when I found I was pretty safe as to beasts of 
prey, I worked sideways, to the right hand, into the 
rock; and then turning to the right again, worked quite 
out, and made me a door to come out on the outside of 
my pale or fortification. 

This gave me not only egress and regress, as it was a 
back way to my tent and to my storehouse, but gave me 
room to stow my goods. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


9i 


And now I began to apply myself to make such neces- 
sary things as I found I most wanted, particularly a chair 
and a table; for without these I was not able to enjoy 
the few comforts I had in the world; I could not write, or 
eat, or do several things with so much pleasure without 
a table. 

So I went to work; and here I must needs observe 
that as reason is the substance and original of the mathe- 
matics, so by stating and squaring everything by reason, 
and by making the most rational judgment of things, 
every man may be, in time, master of every mechanic 
art. I had never handled a tool in my life; and yet in 
time by labor, application, and contrivance I found at 
last that I wanted nothing but I could have made it, 
especially if I had had tools. However, I made abun- 
dance of things, even without tools; and some with no 
more tools than an adze and a hatchet, which, perhaps, 
were never made that way before, and that with infinite 
labor. For example, if I wanted a board, I had no other 
way but to cut down a tree, set it on an edge before me, 
and hew it flat on either side with my ax till I had brought 
it to be as thin as a plank, and then dub it smooth with 
my adze. It is true, by this method I could make but 
one board out of a whole tree; but this I had no remedy 
for but patience, any more than I had for the prodigious 
deal of time and labor which it took me up to make a 
plank or board ; but my time and labor was little worth, 
and so it was as well employed one way as another. 

However, I made me a table and a chair, as I observed 
above, in the first place; and this I did out of the short 
pieces of boards that I brought on my raft from the ship. 


92 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


But when I had wrought out some boards as above, I 
made large shelves, of the breadth of a foot and an half, 
one over another, all along one side of my cave, to lay 
all my tools, nails and ironwork on; and, in a word, to 
separate everything at large into their places, that I 
might come easily at them; also I knocked pieces into 
the wall of the rock, to hang my guns and all things that 
would hang up: so that had my cave been to be seen, it 
looked like a general magazine of all necessary things; 
and I had everything so ready at my hand that it was a 
great pleasure to me to see all my goods in such order, 
and especially to find my stock of all necessaries so great. 

And now it was when I began to keep a journal of 
every day’s employment; for, indeed, at first, I was in 
too much hurry, and not only a hurry as to labor, but 
in too much discomposure of mind ; and my journal would 
have been full of many dull things; for example, I must 
have said thus: 

“September 30. After I had got to shore, and had 
escaped drowning, instead of being thankful to God for 
my deliverance, having first vomited, with the great 
quantity of salt water which had gotten into my stomach, 
and recovering myself a little, I ran about the shore 
wringing my hands and beating my head and face, 
exclaiming at my misery, and crying out I was undone, 
undone! till, tired and faint, I was forced to lie down on 
the ground for repose, but durst not sleep, for fear of 
being devoured.” 

Some days after this, and after I had been on board 
the ship, and had got all I could out of her, yet I could 
not forbear getting up at the top of a little mountain, 



I made me a table and a chair 


















































































































































































































































































. 






































* 

































































































































































ROBINSON CRUSOE 


93 


and looking out to sea, in hopes of seeing a ship: then 
fancy at a vast distance I spied a sail, please myself with 
the hopes of it, and then, after looking steadily, till I 
was almost blind, lose it quite, and sit down and weep 
like a child, and thus increase my misery by my folly. 

But having gotten over these things in some measure, 
and having settled my household stuff and habitation, 
made me a table and a chair, and all as handsome about 
me as I could, I began, I say, to keep my journal; of 
which I shall here give you the copy (though in it will be 
told all these particulars over again) , as long as it lasted ; 
for at last, having no more ink, I was forced to leave it off. 

THE JOURNAL 

September 30, 1659. I, poor miserable Robinson 
Crusoe, being shipwrecked during a dreadful storm in 
the offing, came on shore on this dismal, unfortunate 
island, which I called “The Island of Despair”; all the 
rest of the ship’s company being drowned, and myself 
almost dead. 

All the rest of the day I spent in afflicting myself at 
the dismal circumstances I was brought to; viz., I had 
neither food, house, clothes, weapon, nor place to fly to; 
and in despair of any relief, saw nothing but death before 
me; either that I should be devoured by wild beasts, 
murdered by savages, or starved to death for want of 
food. At the approach of night I slept in a tree, for 
fear of wild creatures; but slept soundly, though it 
rained all night. 

October 1. In the morning I saw, to my great sur- 
prise, the ship had floated with the high tide, and was 


94 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


driven on shore again, much nearer the island; which, 
as it was some comfort on one hand (for seeing her sit 
upright, and not broken to pieces, I hoped, if the wind 
abated, I might get on board, and get some food and 
necessaries out of her for my relief), so, on the other hand, 
it renewed my grief at the loss of my comrades,, who, I 
imagined, if we had all stayed on board, might have 
saved the ship, or at least, that they would not have 
been all drowned, as they were; and that, had the men 
been saved, we might perhaps have built us a boat out 
of the ruins of the ship, to have carried us to some other 
part of the world. I spent great part of this day in per- 
plexing myself on these things; but, at length, seeing 
the ship almost dry, I went upon the sand as near as I 
could, and then swam on board. This day also it con- 
tinued raining, though with no wind at all. 

From the 1st of October to the 24th. All these days 
entirely spent in many several voyages to get all I could 
out of the ship, which I brought on shore, every tide of 
flood, upon rafts. Much rain also, in those days, though 
with some intervals of fair weather; but it seems this 
was the rainy season. 

October 24. I overset my raft, and all the goods I had 
got upon it; but being in shoal water, and the things 
being chiefly heavy, I recovered many of them when the 
tide was out. 

October 25. It rained all night and all day, with some 
gusts of wind; during which time the ship broke in 
pieces, the wind blowing a little harder than before, and 
was no more to be seen, except the wreck of her, 
and that only at low water. I spent this day in covering 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


95 

and securing the goods which I saved, that the rain 
might not spoil them. 

October 26. I walked about the shore almost all day, 
to find out a place to fix my habitation, greatly concerned 
to secure myself from any attack in the night, either from 
wild beasts or men. Towards night I fixed upon a 
proper place, under a rock, and marked out a semicircle 
for my encampment, which I resolved to strengthen with 
a work, wall, or fortification, made of double piles, lined 
within with cables, and without with turf. 

From the 26th to the 30th I worked very hard in 
carrying all my goods to my new habitation, though some 
part of the time it rained exceeding hard. 

The 31st, in the morning, I went out into the island 
with my gun, to seek for some food, and discover the 
country; when I killed a she-goat, and her kid followed 
me home, which I afterwards killed also, because it would 
not feed. 

November 1 . I set up my tent under a rock, and lay 
there for the first night; making it as large as I could, 
with stakes driven in to swing my hammock upon. 

November 2. I set up all my chests and boards, and 
the pieces of timber which made my rafts, and with them 
formed a fence round me, a little within the place I had 
marked out for my fortification. 

November 3. I went out with my gun, and killed 
two fowls like ducks, which were very good food. In 
the afternoon went to work to make me a table. 

November 4. This morning I began to order my times 
of work, of going out with my gun, time of sleep, and time 
of diversion; viz., every morning I walked ©ut with my 


96 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


gun for two or three hours, if it did not rain; then em- 
ployed myself to work till about eleven o’clock; then 
ate what I had to live on; and from twelve to two I lay 
down to sleep, the weather being excessive hot: and 
then, in the evening, to work again. The working part 
of this day and the next were wholly employed in making 
this table, for I was yet but a very sorry workman, though 
time and necessity made me a complete natural mechanic 
soon after, as I believe they would do any one else. 

November 5. This day I went abroad with my gun 
and my dog, and killed a wildcat; her skin pretty soft, 
but her flesh good for nothing; every creature I killed, 
I took off the skins and preserved them. Coming back 
by the seashore, I saw many sorts of sea-fowls, which I 
did not understand; but was surprised, and almost 
frighted, with two or three seals, which, while I was 
gazing at, not well knowing what they were, got into the 
sea and escaped me for that time. 

November 6. After my morning walk, I went to work 
with my table again, and finished it, though not to my 
liking ; nor was it long before I learned to mend it. 

November 7. Now it began to be settled fair weather. 
The 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and part of the 12th (for the 
nth was Sunday according to my reckoning), I took 
wholly up to make me a chair, and with much ado brought 
it to a tolerable shape, but never to please me; and even 
in the making, I pulled it to pieces several times. 

Note. I soon neglected keeping Sundays; for, omit- 
ting my mark for them on my post, I forgot which was 
which. 

November 13. This day it rained, which refreshed 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


97 


me exceedingly, and cooled the earth : but it was accom- 
panied with terrible thunder and lightning, which frighted 
me dreadfully, for fear of my powder. As soon as it was 
over, I resolved to separate my stock of powder into as 
many little parcels as possible, that it might not be in 
danger. 

November 14, 15, 16. These three days I spent in 
making little square chests, or boxes, which might hold 
about a pound, or two pounds at most, of powder; and 
so, putting the powder in, I stowed it in places as secure 
and remote from one another as possible. On one of 
these three days I killed a large bird that was good to 
eat, but I knew not what to call it. 

November 17. This day I began to dig behind my 
tent into the rock, to make room for my further con- 
venience. 

Note. Three things I wanted exceedingly for this 
work; viz., a pickax, a shovel, and a wheelbarrow, or 
basket; so I desisted from my work, and began to con- 
sider how to supply that want, and make me some tools. 
As for the pickax, I made use of the iron crows, which 
were proper enough, though heavy; but the next thing 
was a shovel, or spade; this was so absolutely necessary 
that, indeed, I could do nothing effectually without it; 
but what kind of one to make I knew not. 

November 18. The next day, in searching the woods, 
I found a tree of that wood, or like it, which, in the Brazils, 
they call the iron tree, for its exceeding hardness; of 
this, with great labor, and almost spoiling my ax, I cut 
a piece, and brought it home, with difficulty enough, for 
it was exceeding heavy. The excessive hardness of the 


7 


9 8 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


wood^ and having no other way, made me a long while 
upon this machine, for I worked it effectually by little 
and little into the form of a shovel or spade; the handle 
exactly shaped like ours in England, only that the board 
part having no iron shod upon it at bottom, it would 
not last me so long; however, it served well enough for 
the uses which I had occasion to put it to; but never 
was a shovel, I believe, made after that fashion, or so 
long making. 

I was still deficient, for I wanted a basket, or a wheel- 
barrow. A basket I could not make by any means, 
having no such things as twigs that would bend to make 
wickerware — at least, none yet found out; and as to 
the wheelbarrow, I fancied I could make all but the 
wheel; but that I had no notion of; neither did I know 
how to go about it ; besides, I had no possible way to make 
iron gudgeons for the spindle or axis of the wheel to run 
in ; so I gave it over, and so, for carrying away the earth 
which I dug out of the cave, I made me a thing like a 
hod, which the laborers carry mortar in, when they serve 
the bricklayers. This was not so difficult to me as the 
making the shovel; and yet this and the shovel, and the 
attempt which I made in vain to make a wheelbarrow, 
took me up no less than four days, I mean always 
excepting my morning’s walk with my gun, which I 
seldom failed, and very seldom failed also of bringing 
home something fit to eat. 

November 23. My other work having stood still, 
because of my making these tools, when they were finished 
I went on, and working every day, as my strength and 
time allowed, I spent eighteen days entirely in widening 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


99 


and deepening my cave, that it might hold my goods 
commodiously. 

Note. During all this time I worked to make this 
room, or cave, spacious enough to accommodate me as a 
warehouse or magazine, a kitchen, a dining room, and 
a cellar. As for a lodging, I kept to the tent; except 
that sometimes, in the wet season of the year, it rained 
so hard that I could not keep myself dry, which caused 
me afterwards to cover all my place within my pale with 
long poles, in the form of rafters, leaning against the rock, 
and load them with flags and large leaves of trees, like 
a thatch. 

December io. I began now to think my cave or vault 
finished, when on a sudden (it seems I had made it too 
large) a great quantity of earth fell down from the top 
and one side; so much that, in short, it frighted me, and 
not without reason, too; for if I had been under it, I 
had never wanted a grave digger. Upon this disaster I 
had a great deal of work to do over again ; for I had the 
loose earth to carry out; and, which was of more impor- 
tance, I had the ceiling to prop up, so that I might be sure 
no more would come down. 

December 1 1 . This day I went to work with it accord- 
ingly, and got two shores or posts pitched upright to the 
top, with two pieces of board across over each post; this 
I finished the next day, and setting more posts up with 
boards, in about a week more I had the roof secured; and 
the posts, standing in rows, served me for partitions to 
part off my house. 

December 17. From this day to the 20th I placed 
shelves, and knocked up nails on the posts, to hang every- 


IOO 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


thing up that could be hung up; and now I began to be 
in some order within doors. 

December 20. Now I carried everything into the 
cave, and began to furnish my house, and set up some 
pieces of board like a dresser, to order my victuals upon; 
but board began to be very scarce with me; also I made 
me another table. 

December 24. Much rain all night and all day; no 
stirring out. 

December 25. Rain all day. 

December 26. No rain, and the earth much cooler 
than before, and pleasanter. 

December 27. Killed a young goat, and lamed another 
so that I caught it, and led it home in a string; when 
I had it at home, I bound and splintered up its leg, which 
was broke. 

N. B. I took such care of it that it lived, and the leg 
grew well and as strong as ever; but by nursing it so 
long it grew tame and fed upon the little green at my 
door, and would not go away. This was the first time 
that I entertained a thought of breeding up some tame 
creatures, that I might have food when my powder and 
shot were all spent. 

December 28, 29, 30, 31. Great heats and no breeze, 
so that there was no stirring abroad, except in the eve- 
ning, for food ; this time I spent in putting all my things 
in order within doors. 

January 1. Very hot still: but I went abroad early 
and late with my gun, and lay still in the middle of the 
day. This evening, going farther into the valleys which 
lay towards the center of the island, I found there were 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


IOI 


plenty of goats, though exceedingly shy, and hard to 
come at; however, I resolved to try if I could not bring 
my dog to hunt them down. 

January 2. Accordingly, the next day I went out 
with my dog, and set him upon the goats; but I was 
mistaken, for they all faced about upon the dog, and he 
knew his danger too well, for he would not come near 
them. 

January 3. I began my fence or wall; which, being 
still jealous of my being attacked by somebody, I resolved 
to make very thick and strong. 

N. B. This wall being described before, I purposely 
omit what was said in the Journal; it is sufficient to 
observe that I was no less time than from the 3d of Janu- 
ary to the 14th of April working, finishing, and perfecting 
this wall, though it was no more than about twenty-four 
yards in length, being a half-circle, from one place in 
the rock to another place, about eight yards from it, 
the door of the cave being in the center behind it. 

All this time I worked very hard, the rains hindering 
me many days, nay, sometimes weeks together; but I 
thought I should never be perfectly secure till this wall 
was finished; and it is scarce credible what inexpressible 
labor everything was done with, especially the bring- 
ing piles out of the woods, and driving them into the 
ground; for I made them much bigger than I needed to 
have done. 

When this wall was finished, and the outside double- 
fenced with a turf wall raised up close to it, I persuaded 
myself that, if any people were to come on shore there, 
they would not perceive anything like a habitation; and 


102 


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it was very well I did so, as may be observed hereafter, 
upon a very remarkable occasion. 

During this time I made rounds in the woods for game 
every day, when the rain permitted me, and made 
frequent discoveries in these walks of something or other 
to my advantage; particularly I found a kind of wild 
pigeons, which build, not as wood pigeons in a tree, but 
rather as house pigeons, in the holes of rocks; and taking 
some young ones, I endeavored to breed them up tame, 
and did so ; but when they grew older they flew all away, 
which perhaps was at first for want of feeding them, for 
I had nothing to give them; however, I frequently found 
their nests, and got their young ones, which were very 
good meat. 

And now, in the managing my household affairs, I 
found myself wanting in many things, which I thought 
at first it was impossible for me to make; as, indeed, as 
to some of them it was: for instance, I could never 
make a cask to be hooped. I had a small runlet or two, 
as I observed before; but I could never arrive to the 
capacity of making one of them, though I spent many 
weeks about it; I could neither put in the heads, nor 
join the staves so true to one another as to make them 
hold water; so I gave that also over. 

In the next place, I was at a great loss for candles; so 
that as soon as it was dark, which was generally by seven 
o’clock, I was obliged to go to bed. I remembered the 
lump of beeswax with which I had made candles in my 
African adventure ; but I had none of that now ; the only 
remedy I had was, that when I had killed a goat I saved 
the tallow, and with a little dish made of clay, which I 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


103 


baked in the sun, to which I added a wick of some oakum, 
I made me a lamp; and this gave me light, though not 
a clear, steady light like a candle. In the middle of 
all my labors it happened that, rummaging my things, 
I found a little bag, which, as I hinted before, had been 
filled with corn for the feeding of poultry — not for this 
voyage, but before, as I suppose, when the ship came 
from Lisbon. What little remainder of corn had been 
in the bag was all devoured by the rats, and I saw nothing 
in the bag but husks and dust ; and being willing to have 
the bag for some other use (I think it was to put powder 
in, when I divided it for fear of the lightning, or some such 
use), I shook the husks of corn out of it on one side of 
my fortification, under the rock. 

It was a little before the great rains just now men- 
tioned that I threw this stuff away, taking no notice of 
anything, and not so much as remembering that I had 
thrown anything there, when, about a month after, or 
thereabouts, I saw some few stalks of something green 
shooting upon the ground, which I fancied might be 
some plant I had not seen; but I was surprised, and 
perfectly astonished when, after a little longer time, I 
saw about ten or twelve ears come out, which were per- 
fect green barley, of the same kind as our European — 
nay, as our English barley. 

It is impossible to express the astonishment and con- 
fusion of my thoughts on this occasion; I had hitherto 
acted upon no religious foundation at all; indeed, I had 
very few notions of religion in my head, nor had enter- 
tained any sense of anything that had befallen me, other- 
wise than a chance, or, as we lightly say, what pleases 


104 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


God, without so much as inquiring into the end of Provi- 
dence in these things, or his order in governing events 
in the world. But after I saw barley grow there in a 
climate which I knew was not proper for com, and 
especially that I knew not how it came there, it startled 
me strangely, and I began to suggest that God had mirac- 
ulously caused this grain to grow without any help 
of seed sown, and that it was so directed purely for my 
sustenance in that wild, miserable place. 

This touched my heart a little, and brought tears out 
of my eyes, and I began to bless myself that such a prodigy 
of Nature should happen upon my account; and this was 
the more strange to me, because I saw near it still, all 
along by the side of the rock, some other straggling 
stalks, which proved to be stalks of rice, and which I 
knew because I had seen it grow in Africa, when I was 
ashore there. 

I not only thought these the pure productions of 
Providence for my support, but not doubting that there 
was more in the place, I went all over that part of the 
island where I had been before, peering in every corner 
and under every rock, to see for more of it, but I could 
not find any. At last it occurred to my thoughts that 
I had shaken the bag of chickens’ meat out in that place; 
and the wonder began to cease; and I must confess my 
religious thankfulness to God’s providence began to 
abate too, upon the discovering that all this was nothing 
but what was common; though I ought to have been as 
thankful for so strange and unforeseen providence, as if 
it had been miraculous; for it was really the work of 
Providence as to me, that should order or appoint that 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


105 


ten or twelve grains of corn should remain unspoiled, 
when the rats had destroyed all the rest, as if it had been 
dropped from heaven; as also that I should throw it 
out in that particular place, where, it being in the shade 
of a high rock, it sprang up immediately; whereas, if 
I had thrown it anywhere else at that time it had been 
burnt up and destroyed. 

I carefully saved the ears of this corn, you may be 
sure, in their season, which was about the end of June; 
and laying up every corn, I resolved to sow them all again, 
hoping in time to have some quantity sufficient to supply 
me with bread. But it was not till the fourth year that 
I would allow myself the least grain of this corn to eat, 
and even then but sparingly, as I shall say afterwards 
in its order; for I lost all that I sowed the first season, 
by not observing the proper time; for I sowed it just 
before the dry season, so that it never came up at all, 
at least not as it would have done; of which in its place. 

Besides this barley, there were, as above, twenty or 
thirty stalks of rice, which I preserved with the same care, 
and whose use was of the same kind, or to the same pur- 
pose, viz., to make me bread, or rather food; for I found 
ways to cook it up without baking, though I did that also 
after some time. 

But to return to my Journal: 

I worked excessive hard these three or four months, 
to get my wall done; and the 14th of April, I closed it 
up, contriving to go into it not by a door but over a wall, 
by a ladder, that there might be no sign on the outside 
of my habitation. 

April 16. I finished the ladder; so I went up the 


io6 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


ladder to the top, and then pulled it up after me, and let it 
down on the inside: this was a complete inclosure to me; 
for within I had room enough, and nothing could come at 
me from without, unless it could first mount my wall. 

The very next day after this wall was finished I had 
almost had all my labors overthrown at once, and myself 
killed. The case was thus: As I was busy in the inside 
of it, behind my tent, just in the entrance into my cave, 
I was terribly frightened with a most dreadful surprising 
thing indeed ; for, all on a sudden I found the earth came 
tumbling down from the roof of my cave, and from the 
edge of the hill over my head, and two of the posts I 
had set up in the cave cracked in a frightful manner. 
I was heartily scared; but thought nothing of what 
really was the cause, only thinking that the top of my 
cave was fallen in, as some of it had done before; and 
for fear I should be buried in it, I ran forwards to my 
ladder, and not thinking myself safe there neither, I 
got over my wall for fear of the pieces of the hill, which 
I expected might roll down upon me. I was no sooner 
stepped down upon the firm ground than I plainly saw 
it was a terrible earthquake; for the ground I stood on 
shook three times at about eight minutes’ distance, with 
three such shocks as would have overturned the strongest 
building that could be supposed to have stood upon the 
earth; and a great piece of the top of the rock, which 
stood about half a mile from me, next the sea, fell down 
with such a terrible noise as I never heard in all my 
life. I perceived also the very sea was put into a violent 
motion by it ; and I believe the shocks were stronger under 
the water than on the island. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


107 


I was so amazed with the thing itself, having never 
felt the like, or discoursed with any one that had, that 
I was like one dead or stupefied; and the motion of the 
earth made my stomach sick like one who was tossed at 
sea; but the noise of the falling of the rock awaked me, 
as it were, and rousing me from the stupefied condition 
I was in, filled me with horror, and I thought of nothing 
then but the hill falling upon my tent and all my house- 
hold goods, and burying all at once; and this sunk my 
very soul within me a second time. 

After the third shock was over, and I felt no more 
for some time, I began to take courage; and yet I had 
not heart enough to get over my wall again, for fear of 
being buried alive, but still sat upon the ground, greatly 
cast down and disconsolate, not knowing what to do. 
All this while I had not the least serious religious thought ; 
nothing but the common “Lord, have mercy upon me!” 
and when it was over, that went away too. 

While I sat thus, I found the air overcast, and it grew 
cloudy, as if it would rain; soon after that, the wind arose 
by little and little, so that in less than half an hour it 
blew a most dreadful hurricane of wind; the sea was, all 
on a sudden, covered with foam and froth; the shore was 
covered with the breach of the water; the trees were 
torn up by the roots; and a terrible storm it was. This 
held about three hours and then began to abate; and 
then in two hours more it was calm, and began to rain 
very hard. All this while I sat upon the ground very 
much terrified and dejected; when on a sudden it came 
into my thoughts that these winds and rain, being the 
consequences of the earthquake, the earthquake itself 


io8 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


was spent and over, and I might venture into my cave 
again. With this thought my spirits began to revive; 
and the rain also helping to persuade me, I went in and 
sat down in my tent; but the rain was so violent that 
my tent was ready to be beaten down with it; and I 
was forced to go into my cave, though very much afraid 
and uneasy, for fear it should fall on my head. This 
violent rain forced me to a new work, viz., to cut a hole 
through my new fortifications, like a sink, to let the water 
go out, which would else have drowned my cave. After 
I had been in my cave some time, and found still no more 
shocks of the earthquake follow, I began to be more 
composed. And now, to support my spirits, which 
indeed wanted it very much, I went to my little store 
and took a small sup of rum ; which, however, I did then 
and always very sparingly, knowing I could have no 
more when that was gone. It continued raining all that 
night, and great part of the next day, so that I could 
not stir abroad; but my mind being more composed, I 
began to think of what I had best to do, concluding that 
if the island was subject to these earthquakes there 
would be no living for me in a cave, but I must consider 
of building me some little hut in an open place which I 
might surround with a wall as I had done here, and so 
make myself secure from wild beasts or men; for I con- 
cluded if I stayed where I was I should certainly, one time 
or other, be buried alive. 

With these thoughts, I resolved to move my tent from 
the place where it now stood, which was just under the 
hanging precipice of the hill; and which, if it should be 
shaken again, would certainly fall upon my tent; and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


109 


I spent the two next days, being the 19th and 20th of 
April, in contriving where and how to remove my habi- 
tation. The fear of being swallowed up alive made me 
that I never slept in quiet; and yet the apprehension 
of lying abroad without any fence was almost equal to 
it: but still, when I looked about, and saw how every- 
thing was put in order, how pleasantly concealed I 
was, and how safe from danger, it made me loath to re- 
move. In the meantime it occurred to me that it would 
require a vast deal of time for me to do this, and that I 
must be contented to run the venture where I was till I 
had formed a camp for myself, and had secured it so as to 
remove to it. So with this resolution I composed myself 
for a time, and resolved that I would go to work with all 
speed to build me a wall with piles and cables, etc., in a 
circle as before, and set my tent up in it when it was fin- 
ished; but that I would venture to stay wherel was till 
it was finished and fit to remove to. This was the 21st. 

April 22. The next morning I began to consider 
of means to put this resolve in execution ; but I was at a 
great loss about my tools. I had three large axes, and 
abundance of hatchets (for we carried the hatchets for 
traffic with the Indians); but with much chopping and 
cutting knotty hard wood they were all full of notches, 
and dull; and though I had a grindstone, I could not 
turn it and grind my tools too. This caused me as much 
thought as a statesman would have bestowed upon a 
grand point of politics, or judge upon the life and death 
of a man. At length, I contrived a wheel with a string, 
to turn it with my foot, that I might have both my hands 
at liberty. 


no 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


Note. I had not seen any such thing in England, 
or at least not to take notice how it was done, though I 
have observed it was very common there; besides that, 
my grindstone was very large and heavy. This machine 
cost me a full week's work to bring it to perfection. 

April 28, 29. These two whole days I took up in 
grinding my tools, my machine for turning my grind- 
stone performing very well. 

April 30. Having perceived my bread had been 
low a great while, I now took a survey of it, and reduced 
myself to one biscuit-cake a day, which made my heart 
very heavy. 

May 1 . In the morning, looking toward the seaside, 
the tide being low, I saw something lie on the shore 
bigger than ordinary, and it looked like a cask; when 
I came to it, I found a small barrel, and two or three 
pieces of the wreck of the ship, which were driven on 
shore by the late hurricane ; and looking towards the 
wreck itself, I thought it seemed to lie higher out of the 
water than it used to do. I examined the barrel which 
was driven on shore, and soon found it was a barrel of 
gunpowder; but. it had taken water, and the powder 
was caked as hard as a stone : however, I rolled it farther 
on shore for the present, and went on upon the sand, as 
near as I could to the wreck of the ship, to look for more. 

When I came down to the ship I found it strangely 
removed. The forecastle, which lay before buried in 
sand, was heaved up at least six feet, and the stern, 
which was broken to pieces and parted from the rest by 
the force of the sea soon after I had left rummaging of 
her, was tossed, as it were, up, and cast on one side; and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


hi 


the sand was thrown so high on that side next the stern, 
that whereas there was a great place of water before, so 
that I could not come within a quarter of a mile of the 
wreck without swimming, I could now walk quite up 
to her when the tide was out. I was surprised with 
this at first, but soon concluded it must be done by the 
earthquake; and as by this violence the ship was more 
broken open than formerly, so many things came daily 
on shore, which the sea had loosened, and which the 
winds and water rolled by degrees to the land. 

This wholly diverted my thoughts from the design 
of removing my habitation and I busied myself mightily, 
that day especially, in searching whether I could make 
any way into the ship; but I found nothing was to be 
expected of that kind, for that all the inside of the ship 
was choked up with sand. However, as I had learned 
not to despair of anything, I resolved to pull everything 
to pieces that I could of the ship, concluding that every- 
thing I could get from her would be of some use or other 
to me. 

May 3. I began with my saw, and cut a piece of a 
beam through, which held some of the upper part or 
quarterdeck together, and when I had cut it through, I 
cleared away the sand as well as I could from the side 
which lay highest; but the tide coming in, I was obliged 
to give over for that time. 

May 4. I went a-fishing, but caught not one fish 
that I durst eat of, till I was weary of my sport; when, 
just going to leave off, I caught a young dolphin. I had 
made me a long line of some rope-yarn, but I had no 
hooks; yet I frequently caught fish enough, as much 


1 12 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


as I cared to eat; all which I dried in the sun, and ate 
them dry. 

May 5. Worked on the wreck; cut another beam 
asunder, and brought three great fire planks off from the 
decks, which I tied together, and made swim on shore 
when the tide of flood came on. 

May 6. Worked on the wreck; got several iron bolts 
out of her, and other pieces of iron- work; worked very 
hard, and came home very much tired, and had thoughts 
of giving it over. 

May 7. Went to the wreck again, with an intent not 
to work, but found the weight of the wreck had broken 
itself down, the beams being cut; that several pieces of 
the ship seemed to lie loose, and the inside of the hold 
lay so open that I could see into it; but it was almost 
full of water and sand. 

May 8. Went to the wreck, and carried an iron 
crow to wrench up the deck, which lay now quite clear 
of the water or sand. I wrenched open two planks, and 
brought them on shore also with the tide. I left the 
iron crow in the wreck for next day. 

May 9. Went to the wreck, and with the crow made 
way into the body of the wreck, and felt several casks 
and loosened them with the crow, but could not break 
them up. I felt also a roll of English lead, and could 
stir it, but it was too heavy to move. 

May 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Went every day to the wreck; 
and got a great deal of pieces of timber, and boards, 
or planks, and two or three hundredweight of iron. 

May 15. I carried two hatchets, to try if I could not 
cut a piece off the roll of lead, by placing the edge of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


113 

one hatchet, and driving it with the other; but as it lay 
about a foot and a half in the water, I could not make 
any blow to drive the hatchet. 

May 16. It had blown hard in the night, and the 
wreck appeared more broken by the force of the water; 
but I stayed so long in the woods, to get pigeons for 
food, that the tide prevented me going to the wreck 
that day. 

May 17. I saw some pieces of the wreck blown on 
shore, at a great distance, near two miles off me, but 
resolved to see what they were, and found they were 
pieces of the head, but too heavy for me to bring away. 

May 24. Every day, to this day, I worked on the 
wreck; and with hard labor I loosened some things so 
much with the crow that the first flowing tide several 
casks floated out, and two of the seamen’s chests; but 
the wind blowing from the shore nothing came to land 
that day but pieces of timber, and a hogshead which had 
some Brazil pork in it; but the salt water and the sand 
had spoiled it. I continued this work every day to 
the 15th of June, except the time necessary to get food, 
which I always appointed, during this part of my employ- 
ment, to be when the tide was up, that I might be ready 
when it was ebbed out; and by this time I had gotten 
timber, and plank, and iron-work enough to have built 
a good boat, if I had known how; and also I got, at 
several times, and in several pieces, near one hundred- 
weight of the sheet lead. 

June 16. Going down to the seaside, I found a large 
tortoise, or turtle. This was the first I had seen, which, 
it seems, was only my misfortune, not any defect of the 

8 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


11 4 

place or the scarcity; for had I happened to be on the 
other side of the island, I might have had hundreds of 
them every day, as I found afterwards; but perhaps 
had paid dear enough for them. 

June 17. I spent in cooking the turtle. I found in 
her threescore eggs; and her flesh was to me, at that 
time, the most savory and pleasant that ever I tasted 
in my life, having had no flesh, but of goats and fowls, 
since I landed in this horrible place. 

June 18. Rained all day, and I stayed within. I 
thought, at this time, the rain felt cold, and I was some- 
thing chilly, which I knew was not usual in that latitude. 

June 19. Very ill, and shivering, as if the weather 
had been cold. 

June 20. No rest all night ; violent pains in my head, 
and feverish. 

June 21. Very ill; frighted almost to death with the 
apprehensions of my sad condition — to be sick, and no 
help: prayed to God, for the first time since the storm 
off of Hull, but scarce knew what I said, or why; my 
thoughts being all confused. 

June 22. A little better; but under dreadful appre- 
hensions of sickness. 

June 23. Very bad again; cold and shivering, and 
then a violent headache. 

June 24. Much better. 

June 25. An ague very violent : the fit held me seven 
hours; cold fit, and hot with faint sweats after it. 

June 26. Better; and having no victuals to eat, 
took my gun, but found myself very weak; however, I 
killed a she-goat, and with much difficulty got it home, 



Having no victuals to eat, I killed a she-goat 




ROBINSON CRUSOE 


J 


115 

and broiled some of it, and ate. I would fain have 
stewed it, and made some broth, but had no pot. 

June 27. The ague again so violent that I lay a-bed 
all day, and neither ate nor drank. I was ready to perish 
for thirst; but so weak I had no strength to stand up, 
or to get myself any water to drink. Prayed to God 
again, but was light-headed; and when I was not, I 
was so ignorant that I knew not what to say; only I 
lay and cried, “Lord, look upon me! Lord, pity me! 
Lord, have mercy upon me!” I suppose I did nothing 
else for two or three hours ; till the fit wearing off, I fell 
asleep, and did not awake till far in the night. When I 
awoke, I found myself much refreshed, but weak, and 
exceeding thirsty; however, as I had no water in my 
whole habitation, I was forced to lie till morning, and 
went to sleep again. In this second sleep I had this 
terrible dream: I thought that I was sitting on the 
ground, on the outside of my wall, where I sat when the 
storm blew after the earthquake, and that I saw a man 
descend from a great black cloud, in a bright flame of 
fire, and light upon the ground. He was all over as 
bright as a flame, so that I could but just bear to look 
towards him. His countenance was most inexpressibly 
dreadful, impossible for words to describe. When he 
stepped upon the ground with his feet, I thought the 
earth trembled, just as it had done before in the earth- 
quake, and all the air looked, to my apprehension, as if 
it had been filled with flashes of fire. He was no sooner 
landed upon the earth but he moved forward towards 
me with a long spear or weapon in his hand to kill me; 
and when he came to a rising ground, at some distance, 


Ii6 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


he spoke to me — or I heard a voice so terrible that it is 
impossible to express the terror of it. All that I can say 
I understood was this: “Seeing all these things have 
not brought thee to repentance, now thou shalt die,” — 
at which words, I thought he lifted up the spear that was 
in his hand to kill me. 

No one that shall ever read this account will expect 
that I should be able to describe the horrors of my soul 
at this terrible vision. I mean, that even while it was a 
dream, I even dreamed of those horrors. Nor is it any 
more possible to describe the impression that remained 
upon my mind when I awaked, and found it was but 
a dream. 

I had, alas! no divine knowledge. What I had 
received by the good instruction of my father was then 
worn out by an uninterrupted series, for eight years, of 
seafaring wickedness, and a constant conversation with 
none but such as were, like myself, wicked and profane 
to the last degree. I do not remember that I had, in 
all that time, one thought that so much as tended either 
to looking upwards towards God, or inwards towards a 
reflection upon my own ways: but a certain stupidity 
of soul without desire of good, or conscience of evil, 
had entirely overwhelmed me, and I was all that the 
most hardened, unthinking, wicked creature among our 
common sailors can be supposed to be — not having 
the least sense, either of the fear of God in dangers, or 
of thankfulness to God in deliverances. 

In the relating what is already past of my story, this 
will be the more easily believed when I shall add that 
through all the variety of miseries that had to this day 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 117 

befallen me, I never had so much as once thought of its 
being the hand of God, or that it was a just punishment 
for my sins — my rebellious behavior against my father — 
or my present sins, which were great — or so much as a 
punishment for the general course of my wicked life. 
When I was on the desperate expedition on the desert 
shores of Africa I never had so much as one thought 
of what would become of me, or one wish to God to direct 
me whither I should go, or to keep me from the danger 
which apparently surrounded me, as well from vora- 
cious creatures as cruel savages; but I was merely 
thoughtless of God or a Providence — I acted like a mere 
brute, from the principles of nature, and by the dictates 
of common sense only, and indeed hardly that. When 
I was delivered and taken up at sea by the Portugal 
captain, well used, and dealt justly and honorably with, 
as well as charitably, I had not the least thankfulness in 
my thoughts. When, again, I was shipwrecked, ruined, 
and in danger of drowning on this island, I was as far 
from remorse, or looking on it as a judgment. I only 
said to myself often that I was an unfortunate dbg, and 
born to be always miserable. 

It is true, when I got on shore first here, and found 
all my ship’s crew drowned, and myself spared, I was 
surprised, with a kind of ecstasy, and some transports 
of soul, which, had the grace of God assisted, might 
have come up to true thankfulness; but it ended where 
it began, in a mere common flight of joy, or, as I may 
say, being glad I was alive, without the least reflec- 
tion upon the distinguishing goodness of the Hand 
which had preserved me, and had singled me out to be 


1 1 8 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


preserved when all the rest were destroyed, or an inquiry 
why Providence had been thus merciful to me. Even 
just the same common sort of joy which seamen gen- 
erally have, after they have got safe ashore from a ship- 
wreck, all which they drown in the next bowl of punch 
and forget almost as soon as it is over: and all the rest 
of my life was like it. Even when I was afterwards, on 
due consideration, made sensible of my condition, how 
I was cast on this dreadful place, out of the reach of 
human kind, out of all hope of relief, or prospect of 
redemption, as soon as I saw a probability of living, and 
that I should not starve and perish for hunger, all the 
sense of my affliction wore off; and I began to be very 
easy, applied myself to the works proper for my preser- 
vation and supply, and was far enough from being 
afflicted at my condition, as a judgment from Heaven, 
or as the hand of God against me: these were thoughts 
which very seldom entered my head. 

The growing up of the corn, as is hinted in my Jour- 
nal, had at first some little influence upon me, and began 
to affect me with seriousness, as long as I thought it had 
something miraculous in it; but as soon as ever that 
part of the thought was removed, all the impression 
which was raised from it wore off also, as I have noted 
already. Even the earthquake, though nothing could 
be more terrible in its nature, or more immediately 
directing to the invisible Power which alone directs such 
things, yet no sooner was the first fright over, but the 
impression it had made went off also. I had no more 
sense of God or his judgment — much less of the present 
affliction of my circumstances being from his hand — 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


119 

than if I had been in the most prosperous condition of 
life. But now, when I began to be sick, and a leisurely- 
view of the miseries of death came to place itself before 
me; when my spirits began to sink under the burden of 
a strong distemper, and nature was exhausted with the 
violence of the fever, conscience, that had slept so long, 
began to awake, and I began to reproach myself with my 
past life, in which I had so evidently, by uncommon 
wickedness, provoked the justice of God to lay me 
under uncommon strokes, and to deal with me in so 
vindictive a manner. These reflections oppressed me 
from the second or third day of my distemper; and in 
the violence, as well of the fever as of the dreadful 
reproaches of my conscience, extorted some words from 
me like praying to God, though I cannot say they were 
either a prayer attended with desires or with hopes: it 
was rather the voice of mere fright and distress. My 
thoughts were confused, the convictions great upon my 
mind, and the horror of dying in such a miserable con- 
dition raised vapors into my head with the mere appre- 
hensions; and in these hurries of my soul I knew not 
what my tongue might express. But it was rather 
exclamation, such as, “Lord, what a miserable creature 
am I ! If I should be sick, I shall certainly die for want 
of help, and what will become of me?” Then the tears 
burst out of my eyes, and I could say no more for a 
good while. In this interval, the good advice of my 
father came to my mind, and presently his prediction, 
which I mentioned at the beginning of this story, viz., 
that if I did take this foolish step, God would not bless 
me, and I would have leisure hereafter to reflect upon 


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having neglected his counsel, when there might be none 
to assist me in my recovery. “Now,” said I aloud, 
“my dear father’s words are come to pass; God’s justice 
has overtaken me, and I have none to help or hear me. 
I rejected the voice of Providence, which had mercifully 
put me in a posture or station of life wherein I might 
have been happy and easy; but I would neither see it 
myself, nor learn to know the blessing of it from my 
parents. I* left them to mourn over my folly; and now 
I am left to mourn under the consequences of it. I 
refused their help and assistance, who would have lifted 
me into the world, and would have made everything 
easy for me; and now I have difficulties to struggle with 
too great for even nature itself to support, and no assist- 
ance, no help, no comfort, no advice.” Then I cried 
out, “Lord, be my help, for I am in great distress.” 
This was the first prayer, if I might call it so, that I had 
made for many years. But I return to my Journal. 

June 28. Having been somewhat refreshed with the 
sleep I had had, and the fit being entirely off, I got up; 
and though the fright and terror of my dream was very 
great, yet I considered that the fit of the ague would 
return again the next day, and now was my time to get 
something to refresh and support myself when I should 
be ill; and the first thing I did, I filled a large square 
case-bottle with water, and set it upon my table, in reach 
of my bed; and to take off the chill or aguish disposition 
of the water, I put about a quarter of a pint of rum into 
it, and mixed them together. Then I got me a piece of 
the goat’s flesh, and broiled it on the coals, but could 
eat very little; I walked about, but was very weak, and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


1 2 1 


withal very sad and heavy-hearted in the sense of my 
miserable condition, dreading the return of my distemper 
the next day. At night, I made my supper of three of 
the turtle’s eggs, which I roasted in the ashes, and ate, 
as we call it, in the shell, and this was the first bit of 
meat I had ever asked God’s blessing to, even as I could 
remember, in my whole life. 

After I had eaten, I tried to walk, but found myself 
so weak that I could hardly carry the gun, for I never 
went out without that; so I went out but a little way, 
and sat down upon the ground, looking out upon the 
sea, which was just before me, and very calm and smooth. 
As I sat here, some thoughts such as these occurred to 
me: What is the earth and sea, of which I have seen so 
much? Whence is it produced? And what am I, 
and all the other creatures, wild and tame, human and 
brutal? Whence are we? Sure we are all made by some 
secret Power, who formed the earth and sea, the air and 
sky. And who is that? Then it followed most naturally, 
It is God that has made it all. Well, but then, it came 
on strongly, if God has made all these things, he guides 
and governs them all, and all things that concern them; 
for the Being that could make all things must certainly 
have power to guide and direct them. If so, nothing 
can happen in the great circuit of his works either 
without his knowledge or appointment. 

And if nothing happens without his knowledge, he 
knows that I am here, and am in this dreadful condition; 
and if nothing happens without his appointment, he has 
appointed all this to befall me. Nothing occurred to 
my thoughts to contradict any of these conclusions, and 


122 


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therefore it rested upon me with the greater force, that 
it must needs be that God had appointed all this to befall 
me; that I was brought to this miserable circumstance 
by his direction, he having the sole power, not of me 
only, but of everything that happened in the world. 
Immediately it followed, Why has God done this to me? 
What have I done to be thus used? My conscience 
presently checked me in that inquiry, as if I had blas- 
phemed, and methought it spoke to me like a voice, 
“Wretch, dost thou ask what thou hast done? Look 
back upon a dreadful misspent life, and ask thyself, 
what thou hast not done? Ask, why is it that thou wert 
not long ago destroyed? Why wert thou not drowned 
in Yarmouth Roads? killed in the fight, when the 
ship was taken by the Sallee man-of-war? devoured by 
the wild beasts off the coast of Africa? or drowned here, 
when all the crew perished but thyself? Dost thou ask, 
What have I done?” I was struck dumb with these 
reflections, as one astonished, and had not a word to 
say, — no, not to answer to myself, — but rose up pensive 
and sad, walked back to my retreat, and went up over 
my wall, as if I had been going to bed; but my thoughts 
were sadly disturbed, and I had no inclination to sleep: 
so I sat down in my chair, and lighted my lamp, for it 
began to be dark. Now, as the apprehensions of the 
return of my distemper terrified me very much, it occurred 
to my thought, that the Brazilians take no physic but 
their tobacco for almost all distempers, and I had a 
piece of a roll of tobacco in one of the chests, which was 
quite cured, and some also that was green, and not quite 
cured. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


123 


I went, directed by Heaven, no doubt; for in this 
chest I found a cure both for soul and body. I opened 
the chest, and found what I looked for, viz., the tobacco; 
and as the few books I had saved lay there too, I took 
out one of the Bibles which I mentioned before, and 
which to this time I had not found leisure, or so much as 
inclination, to look into. I say I took it out, and brought 
both that and the tobacco with me to the table. What 
use to make of the tobacco I knew not, as to my dis- 
temper, or whether it was good for it or no; but I tried 
several experiments with it, as if I was resolved it should 
heal one way or other. I first took a piece of leaf, and 
chewed it in my mouth, which, indeed, at first, almost 
stupefied my brain, the tobacco being green and strong, 
and I had not been much used to it. Then I took 
some and steeped it an hour or two in some rum, and 
resolved to take a dose of it when I lay down; and lastly, 
I burnt some upon a pan of coals, and held my nose close 
over the smoke of it as long as I could bear it, as well for 
the heat as the virtue of it, and I held it almost to suffo- 
cation. In the interval of this operation, I took up the 
Bible and began to read; but my head was too much 
disturbed with the tobacco to bear reading, at least at 
that time; only, having opened the book casually, the 
words first that occurred to me were these, “Call upon 
me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and 
thou shalt glorify me.” These words were very apt to 
my case, and made some impression upon my thoughts 
at the time of reading them, though not so much as they 
did afterwards; for, as for being delivered, the word 
had no sound, as I may say, to me, the thing was so 


124 


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remote, so impossible in my apprehension of things, that I 
began to say, as the children of Israel did when they were 
promised flesh to eat, “Can God spread a table in the 
wilderness?” so I began to say, “Can God himself de- 
liver me from this place?” And as it was not for many 
years that any hopes appeared, this prevailed very often 
upon my thoughts; but, however, the words made a 
great impression upon me, and I mused upon them very 
often. It grew now late, and the tobacco had, as I said, 
dozed my head so much that I inclined to sleep; so I 
left my lamp burning in the cave, lest I should want 
anything in the night, and went to bed. But before I 
lay down, I did what I never had done in all my life; 
I kneeled down, and prayed to God to fulfill the promise 
to me, that if I called upon him in the day of trouble, 
he would deliver me. After my broken and imperfect 
prayer was over, I drank the rum in which I had steeped 
the tobacco, which was so strong and rank of the tobacco 
that indeed I could scarcely get it down. Immediately 
upon this I went to bed; and I found presently it flew 
up into my head violently, but I fell into a sound sleep, 
and waked no more till, by the sun, it must necessarily 
be near three o’clock in the afternoon the next day: 
nay, to this hour I am partly of opinion that I slept 
all the next day and night, and till almost three the day 
after; for otherwise, I know not how I should lose a day 
out of my reckoning in the days of the week, as it appeared 
some years after I had done ; for if I had lost it by crossing 
and re-crossing the line, I should have lost more than one 
day; but in my account it was lost, and I never knew 
which way. Be that, however, one way or other, when 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


125 


I awaked I found myself exceedingly refreshed, and my 
spirits lively and cheerful; when I got up I was stronger 
than I was the day before, and my stomach better, for I 
was hungry; and, in short, I had no fit the next day, but 
continued much altered for the better. This was the 29th. 

The 30th was my well day, of course, and I went 
abroad with my gun, but did not care to travel too far. 
I killed a sea-fowl or two, something like a brand goose, 
and brought them home; but was not very forward to 
eat them; so I ate some more of the turtle’s eggs, which 
were very good. This evening I renewed the medicine, 
which I had supposed did me good the day before, viz., 
the tobacco steeped in rum; only I did not take so much 
as before, nor did I chew any of the leaf, or hold my head 
over the smoke; however, I was not so well the next 
day, which was the 1st of July, as I hoped I should 
have been; for I had a little spice of the cold fit, but it 
was not much. 

July 2. I renewed the medicine all three ways; and 
dosed myself with it as at first, and doubled the quantity 
which I drank. 

July 3. I missed the fit for good and all, though I 
did not recover my full strength for some weeks after. 
While I was thus gathering strength, my thoughts ran 
exceedingly upon this Scripture, “I will deliver thee”; 
and the impossibility of my deliverance lay much upon 
my mind, in bar of my ever expecting it; but as I was 
discouraging myself with such thoughts, it occurred to 
my mind that I pored so much upon my deliverance 
from the main affliction that I disregarded the deliver- 
ance I had received, and I was, as it were, made to ask 


126 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


myself such questions as these, viz., Have I not been 
delivered, and wonderfully, too, from sickness? from 
the most distressed condition that could be, and that 
was so frightful to me? and what notice had I taken of 
it? Had I done my part? God had delivered me, but 
I had not glorified him; that is to say, I had not owned 
and been thankful for that as a deliverance; and how 
could I expect greater deliverance? This touched my 
heart very much; and immediately I kneeled down, and 
gave God thanks aloud for my recovery from my sickness. 

July 4. In the morning I took the Bible; and begin- 
ning at the New Testament, I began seriously to read it, 
and imposed upon myself to read a while every morning 
and every night; not tying myself to the number of 
chapters, but as long as my thoughts should engage me. 
It was not long after I set seriously to this work, till I 
found my heart more deeply and sincerely affected with 
the wickedness of my past life. The impression of my 
dream revived; and the words, “All these things have 
not brought thee to repentance,” ran seriously in my 
thoughts. I was earnestly begging of God to give me 
repentance, when it happened providentially, the very 
day, that reading the Scripture, I came to these words: 
“ He is exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance 
and to give remission.” I threw down the book; and 
with my heart as well as my hands lifted up to heaven, 
in a kind of ecstasy of joy I cried out aloud, “Jesus, thou 
Son of David! Jesus! thou exalted Prince and Saviour! 
give me repentance!” This was the first time I could 
say, in the true sense of the words, that I prayed in all 
my life; for now I prayed with a sense of my condition, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


127 


and with a true Scripture view of hope, founded on the 
encouragement of the Word of God; and from this time, 
I may say, I began to have hope that God would hear me. 

Now I began to construe the words mentioned above, 
“Call on me, and I will deliver thee,” in a different sense 
from what I had ever done before; for then I had no 
notion of anything being called deliverance, but my being 
delivered from the captivity I was in: for though I was 
indeed at large in the place, yet the island was certainly 
a prison to me, and that in the worst sense of the word. 
But now I learned to take it in another sense: now I 
looked back upon my past life with such horror, and my 
sins appeared so dreadful, that my soul sought nothing 
of God but deliverance from the load of guilt that bore 
down all my comfort. As for my solitary life, it was 
nothing; I did not so much as pray to be delivered from 
it, or think of it; it was all of no consideration, in com- 
parison of this. And I added this part here, to hint 
to whoever shall read it that whenever they come to a 
true sense of things, they will find deliverance from sin 
a much greater blessing than deliverance from affliction. 

But, leaving this part, I return to my Journal: 

My condition began now to be, though not less 
miserable as to my way of living, yet much easier to my 
mind: and my thoughts being directed, by a constant 
reading the Scripture and praying to God, to things of 
a higher nature, I had a great deal of comfort within, 
which, till now, I knew nothing of; also, my health 
and strength returned, I bestirred myself to furnish 
myself with everything that I wanted, and make my 
way of living as regular as I could. 


128 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


From the 4th of July to the 14th I was chiefly em- 
ployed in walking about with my gun in my hand, a 
little and a little at a time, as a man that was gathering 
up his strength after a fit of sickness; for it is hardly 
to be imagined how low I was, and to what weakness I 
was reduced. The application which I made use of was 
perfectly new, and perhaps what had never cured an 
ague before; neither can I recommend it to any one 
to practice, by this experiment; and though it did carry 
off the fit, yet it rather contributed to weaken me; for I 
had frequent convulsions in my nerves and limbs for 
some time. I learned from it also this, in particular, 
that being abroad in the rainy season was the most 
pernicious thing to my health that could be, especially 
in those rains which came attended with storms and 
hurricanes of wind; for as the rain which came in a 
dry season was nearly always accompanied with such 
storms, so I found this rain was much more dangerous 
than the rain which fell in September and October. 

I had now been in this unhappy island above ten 
months; all possibility of deliverance from this condi- 
tion seemed tp be entirely taken from me; and I firmly 
believed that no human shape had ever set foot upon 
that place. Having now secured my habitation, as I 
thought, fully to my mind, I had a great desire to make 
a more perfect discovery of the island, and to see what 
other productions I might find, which yet I knew noth- 
ing of. 

It was the 15th of July that I began to take a more 
particular survey of the island itself. I went up the 
creek first, where, as I hinted, I brought my rafts on 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


129 


shore. I found, after I came about two miles up, that 
the tide did not flow any higher; and that it was no more 
than a little brook of running water, and very fresh and 
good; but this being the dry season, there was hardly 
any water in some parts of it; at least, not enough to 
run in any stream, so as it could be perceived. On the 
banks of this brook I found many pleasant savannas of 
meadows, plain, smooth, and covered with grass; and 
on the rising parts of them, next to the higher grounds, 
where the water, as it might be supposed, never over- 
flowed, I found a great deal of tobacco, green, and grow- 
ing to a great and very strong stalk; there were divers 
other plants, which I had no notion of or understanding 
about, and might, perhaps, have virtues of their own, 
which I could not find out. I searched for the cassava 
root, which the Indians in all that climate make their 
bread of, but I could find none. I saw large plants of 
aloes, but did not then understand them. I saw several 
sugar-canes, but wild, and for want of cultivation imper- 
fect. I contented myself with these discoveries for this 
time, and came back, musing with myself what course I 
might take to know the virtue and goodness of any of 
the fruits of plants which I should discover; but could 
bring it to no conclusion; for, in short, I had made so 
little observation while I was in the Brazils that I knew 
little of the plants of the field; at least, very little that 
might serve me to any purpose now in my distress. 

The next day, the 16th, I went up the same way again; 
and after going something further than I had gone the 
day before, I found the brook and savannas cease, and 
the country became more woody than before. In this 


9 


130 


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part I found different fruits, and particularly I found 
melons upon the ground, in great abundance; and grapes 
upon the trees; the vines had spread indeed over the 
trees, and the clusters of grapes were just now in their 
prime, very ripe and rich. This was a surprising dis- 
covery, and I was exceeding glad of them; but I was 
warned by my experience to eat sparingly of them, 
remembering that, when I was ashore in Barbary, the 
eating of grapes killed several of our Englishmen, who 
were slaves there, by throwing them into fluxes and 
fevers. But I found an excellent use for these grapes; 
and that was to cure or dry them in the sun, and keep 
them as dried grapes or raisins are kept, which I thought 
would be, as indeed they were, as wholesome and as 
agreeable to eat, when no grapes might be had. 

I spent all that evening there, and went not back to 
my habitation, which, by the way, was the first night, 
as I might say, I had lain from home. In the night, I 
took my first contrivance, and got up into a tree, where 
I slept well; and the next morning proceeded upon my 
discovery, traveling nearly four miles, as I might judge 
by the length of the valley, keeping still due north, with 
a ridge of hills on the south and north side of me. At 
the end of this march I came to an opening, where the 
country seemed to descend to the west; and a little 
spring of fresh water, which issued from the side of the 
hill by me, ran the other way, that is, due east; and the 
country appeared so fresh, so green, so flourishing, 
everything being in a constant verdure, or flourish of 
spring, that it looked like a planted garden. I descended 
a little on the side of that delicious valley, surveying it 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


131 

with a secret kind of pleasure, though mixed with other 
afflicting thoughts, to think that this was all my own; 
that I was king and lord of all this country indefeasibly, 
and had a right of possession; and, if I could convey it, 
I might have it in inheritance as completely as any 
lord of a manor in England. I saw here abundance of 
cocoa trees, orange and lemon and citron trees; but all 
wild, and few bearing any fruit, at least not then. How- 
ever, the green limes that I gathered were not only 
pleasant to eat, but very wholesome; and I mixed their 
juice afterwards with water, which made it very whole- 
some; and very cool and refreshing. I found now I had 
business enough to gather and carry home; and I resolved 
to lay up a store, as well of grapes as limes and lemons, 
to furnish myself for the wet season, which I knew was 
approaching. In order to do this, I gathered a great 
heap of grapes in one place, a lesser heap in another 
place, and a great parcel of limes and lemons in another 
place; and taking a few of each with me, I traveled home- 
ward, and resolved to come again, and bring a bag or 
sack, or what I could make to carry the rest home. 
Accordingly, having spent three days in this journey, I 
came home (so I must now call my tent and my cave) ; 
but before I got thither the grapes were spoiled; the 
richness of the fruit, and the weight of the juice, having 
broken them and bruised them, they were good for little 
or nothing; as to the limes, they were good, but I could 
bring but a few. 

The next day, being the 19th, I went back, having 
made me two small bags to bring home my harvest; 
but I was surprised when, coming to my heap of grapes, 


& 


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which were so rich and fine when I gathered them, I 
found them all spread abroad, trodden to pieces, and 
dragged about, some here, some there, and abundance 
eaten and devoured. By this I concluded there were 
some wild creatures thereabouts, which had done this; 
but what they were I knew not. However, as I found 
there was no laying them up in heaps, and no carrying 
them away in a sack, but that one way they would be 
destroyed, and the other way they would be crushed 
with their own weight, I took another course; for I 
gathered a large quantity of the grapes, and hung them 
upon the out branches of the trees, that they might cure 
and dry in the sun; and as for the limes and lemons, I 
carried as many back as I could well stand under. 

When I came home from this journey, I contemplated 
with great pleasure the fruitfulness of that valley and 
the pleasantness of the situation; the security from storm 
on that side of the water, and the wood; and concluded 
that I had pitched upon a place to fix my abode, which 
was by far the worst part of the country. Upon the 
whole, I began to consider of removing my habitation, 
and to look out for a place equally safe as where now I 
was situate, if possible, in that pleasant, fruitful part 
of the island. 

This thought ran long in my head, and I was exceeding 
fond of it for some time, the pleasantness of the place 
tempting me; but when I came to a nearer view of it, 
I considered that I was now by the seaside, where it was 
at least possible that something might happen to my 
advantage; and that the same ill fate that brought me 
hither might bring some other unhappy wretches to 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


133 


the same place; and though it was scarce probable 
that any such thing should ever happen, yet to inclose 
myself among the hills and woods in the center of the 
island was to anticipate my bondage, and to render such 
an affair not only improbable but impossible; and that 
therefore I ought not by any means to remove. How- 
ever, I was so enamored with this place that I spent 
much of my time there for the whole remaining part 
of the month of July; and though, upon second thoughts, 
I resolved as above not to remove, yet I built me a 
little kind of a bower, and surrounded it at a distance 
with a strong fence, being a double hedge, as high as I 
could reach, well staked, and filled between with brush- 
wood; and here I lay very secure, sometimes two or 
three nights together, always going over it with a ladder 
as before ; so that I fancied now I had my country house 
and my seacoast house; and this work took me up to 
the beginning of August. 

I had but newly finished my fence, and began to 
enjoy my labor, but the rains came on, and made me 
stick close to my first habitation ; for though I had made 
me a tent like the other, with a piece of a sail, and spread 
it very well, yet I had not the shelter of a hill to keep 
me from storms, nor a cave behind me to retreat into 
when the rains were extraordinary. 

About the beginning of August, as I said, I had 
finished my bower, and began to enjoy myself. The 
3d of August, I found the grapes I had hung up were 
perfectly dried, and indeed were excellent good raisins 
of the sun; so I began to take them down from the 
trees, and it w r as very happy that I did so, for the rains 


134 


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which followed would have spoiled them, and I had 
lost the best part of my winter food; for I had above 
two hundred large bunches of them. No sooner had I 
taken them all down, and carried most of them home to 
my cave, but it began to rain; and from hence, which 
was the 14th of August, it rained, more or less, every 
ds' f till the middle of October, and sometimes so vio- 
lently that I could not stir out of my cave for several 
days. 

In this season I was much surprised with the increase 
of my family; I had been concerned for the loss of one 
of my cats, who ran away from me, or, as I thought, 
had been dead, and I heard no more tidings of her, till, 
to my astonishment, she came home about the end of 
August, with three kittens. This was the more strange 
to me, because, though I had killed a wildcat, as I called 
it, with my gun, yet I thought it was a quite different 
kind from our European cats; but the young cats were 
the same kind of house-breed as the old one; and both 
my cats being females, I thought it very strange. But 
from these three cats I afterwards came to be so pestered 
with cats that I was forced to kill them like vermin or 
wild beasts, and to drive them from my house as much 
as possible. 

From the 14th of August to the 26th, incessant rain, 
so that I could not stir, and was now very careful not 
to be much wet. In this confinement, I began to be 
straitened for food; but venturing out twice, I one day 
killed a goat; and the last day, which was the 26th, 
found a very large tortoise, which was a treat to me, and 
my food was regulated thus: I ate a bunch of raisins 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


135 


for my breakfast ; a piece of the goat’s flesh, or of the 
turtle, for my dinner, broiled (for, to my great misfortune, 
I had no vessel to boil or stew anything), and two or 
three of the turtle’s eggs for supper. 

During this confinement in my cover by the rain, I 
worked daily two or three hours at enlarging my cave, 
and by degrees worked it on towards one side, till I came 
to the outside of the hill, and made a door or way ^ut, 
which came beyond my fence or wall; and so I came in 
and out this way. But I was not perfectly easy at lying 
so open; for, as I had managed myself before, I was in a 
perfect inclosure; whereas now, I thought, I lay exposed, 
and yet I could not perceive that there was any living 
thing to fear; the biggest creature that I had yet seen 
upon the island being a goat. 

September 30. I was now come to the unhappy anni- 
versary of my landing. I cast up the notches on my 
post, and found I had been on shore three hundred and 
sixty-five days. I kept this day as a solemn fast, setting 
it apart for religious exercise, prostrating myself on the 
ground with the most serious humiliation, confessing my 
sins to God, acknowledging his righteous judgment 
upon me, and praying to him to have mercy on me 
through Jesus Christ; and having not tasted the least 
refreshments for twelve hours, even till the going down 
of the sun, I then ate a biscuit-cake and a bunch of 
grapes, and went to bed, finishing the day as I began it. 
I had all this time observed no Sabbath day; for as at 
first I had no sense of religion upon my mind, I had, 
after some time, omitted to distinguish the weeks, by 
making a longer notch than ordinary for the Sabbath 


136 


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day, and so did not really know what any of the days 
were; but now, having cast up the days as above, I 
found I had been there a year: so I divided it into weeks, 
and set apart every seventh day for a Sabbath; though 
I found at the end of my account I had lost a day or 
Cvo in my reckoning. A little after this my ink began 
to fail me, and so I contented myself to use it more 
sparingly, and to write down only the most remarkable 
events of my life, without continuing a daily memorandum 
of other things. 

The rainy season and dry season began now to appear 
regular to me, and I learned to divide them so as to pro- 
vide for them accordingly; but I bought all my expe- 
rience before I had it, and this I am going to relate was 
one of the most discouraging experiments that I made 
at all. 

I have mentioned that I had saved the few ears of 
barley and rice which I had so surprisingly found spring 
up, as I thought, of themselves; and I believe there were 
about thirty stalks of rice and about twenty of barley; 
and now I thought it a proper time to sow it, after the 
rains, the sun being in his southern position, going from 
me. Accordingly, I dug up a piece of ground as well as 
I could with my wooden spade, and dividing it into two 
parts, I sowed my grain; but as I was sowing, it casually 
occurred to my thoughts that I would not sow it all at 
first, because I did not know when was the proper time 
for it, so I sowed about two thirds of the seed, leaving 
about a handful of each. It was a great comfort to me 
afterwards that I did so, for not one grain of that I sowed 
this time cam® to anything; for the dry months following, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


137 


the earth having had no rain after the seed was sown, it 
had no moisture to assist its growth, and never came up 
at all till the wet season had come again, and then it grew 
as if it had been newly sown. Finding my first seed did 
not grow, which I easily imagined was by the drouth 
I sought for a moister piece of ground to make another 
trial in, and I dug up a piece of ground near my new 
bower, and sowed the rest of my seed in February, a 
little before the vernal equinox; and this having the 
rainy months of March and April to water it, sprang 
up very pleasantly, and yielded a very good crop; but, 
having part of the seed left only, and not daring to sow 
all that I had got, I had but a small quantity at last, my 
whole crop not amounting to above half a peck of each 
kind. But by this experiment I was made master of 
my business, and knew exactly when the proper season 
was to sow, and that I might expect two seedtimes and 
two harvests every year. While this corn was growing 
I made a little discovery, which was of use to me after- 
wards. As soon as the rains were over, and the weather 
began to settle, which was about the month of November, 
I made a visit up the country to my bow r er, where, 
though I had not been some months, I found all things 
just as I left them. The circle or double hedge that I 
had made was not only firm and entire, but the stakes 
which I had cut off of some trees that grew thereabouts 
were all shot out and grown with long branches, as much 
as a willow tree usually shoots the first year after lopping 
its head. I could not tell what tree to call it that these 
stakes were cut from. I was surprised, and yet very 
well pleased, to see the young trees grow; and I pruned 


138 


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them, and led them up to grow as much alike as I could; 
and it is scarcely credible how beautiful a figure they 
grew into in three years; so that though the hedge made 
a circle of about twenty-five yards in diameter, yet the 
trees, for such I might now call them, soon covered it, 
and it was a complete shade, sufficient to lodge under all 
the dry season. This made me resolve to cut some more 
stakes and make me a hedge like this, in a semicircle 
round my wall (I mean that of my first dwelling), which 
I did; and placing the trees or stakes in a double row, 
at about eight yards’ distance from my first fence, they 
grew presently, and were at first a fine cover to my 
habitation, and afterwards served for a defense also, 
as I shall observe in its order. 

I found now that the seasons of the year might gen- 
erally be divided, not into summer and winter, as in 
Europe, but into the rainy seasons and the dry seasons, 
which were generally thus: 

The half of February, the whole of March, and the 
half of April — rainy, the sun being then on or near the 
equinox. 

The half of April, the whole of May, June, and July, 
and the half of August — dry, the sun being then to the 
north of the line. 

The half of August, the whole of September, and the 
half of October — rainy, the sun being then come back. 

The half of October, the whole of November, Decem- 
ber, and January, and the half of February — dry, the 
sun being then to the south of the line. 

The rainy seasons sometimes held longer or shorter 
as the winds happened to blow, but this was the general 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


139 


observation I made. After I had found, by experience, 
the ill consequence of being abroad in the rain, I took 
care to furnish myself with provisions beforehand, that 
I might not be obliged to go out, and I sat within doors 
as much as possible during the wet months. In this 
time I found much employment, and very suitable also 
to the time, for I found great occasion of many things 
which I had no way to furnish myself with but by hard 
labor and constant application; particularly, I tried 
many ways to make myself a basket, but all the twigs 
I could get for the purpose proved so brittle that they 
would do nothing. It proved of excellent advantage 
to me now that, when I was a boy, I used to take great 
delight in standing at a basket maker’s, in the town 
where my father lived, to see them make their wicker- 
ware; and being, as boys usually are, very officious to 
help, and a great observer of the manner how they 
worked those things, and sometimes lent a hand, I had 
by this means so full knowledge of the methods of it 
that I wanted nothing but the materials; when it came 
into my mind that the twigs of that tree from whence 
I cut my stakes that grew might possibly be as tough as 
the sallows, willows, and osiers in England, and I resolved 
to try. Accordingly, the next day I went to my country 
house, as I called it, and cutting some of the smaller 
twigs, I found them to my purpose as much as I could 
desire; whereupon I came the next time prepared with 
a hatchet to cut down a quantity, which I soon found, 
for there was a great plenty of them. These I set up 
to dry, within my circle of hedges, and when they were 
fit for use I carried them to my cave; and here, during 


140 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


the next season, I employed myself in making, as well 
as I could, a great many baskets, both to carry earth 
or to carry or lay up anything, as I had occasion; and 
though I did not finish them very handsomely, yet I 
made them sufficiently serviceable for my purpose; 
and thus, afterwards, I took care never to be without 
them; and as my wickerware decayed, I made more, 
especially strong, deep baskets to place my com in, 
instead of sacks, when I should come to have any quan- 
tity of it. 

Having mastered this difficulty, and employed a world 
of time about it, I bestirred myself to see, if possible, 
how to supply two wants. I had no vessel to hold 
anything that was liquid, except two runlets, which were 
almost full of rum, and some glass bottles — some of 
the common size, and others which were case-bottles, 
square, for the holding of water, spirits, etc. I had 
not so much as a pot to boil anything in, except a great 
kettle, which I saved out of the ship, and which was too 
big for such uses as I desired it for — viz., to make broth, 
and stew a bit of meat by itself. The second thing I 
fain would have had was a tobacco-pipe, but it was impos- 
sible for me to make one; however, I found a contrivance 
for that, too, at last. I employed myself in planting my 
second row of stakes or piles, and in this wickerwork, 
all the summer or dry season, when another business 
took me up more time than it could be imagined I could 
spare. 

I mentioned before that I had a great mind to see 
the whole island, and that I had traveled up the brook, 
and so on to where I built my bower, and where I had 



I employed myself in making a great many baskets 









ROBINSON CRUSOE 


141 

an opening quite to the sea, on the other side of the island. 
I now resolved to travel quite across to the seashore 
on that side; so, taking my gun, a hatchet, and my dog, 
and a larger quantity of powder and shot than usual, 
with two biscuit-cakes and a great bunch of raisins in 
my pouch for my store, I began my journey. When 
I had passed the vale where my bower stood, as above, 
I came within view of the sea to the west, and it being 
a very clear day, fairly descried land — whether an island 
or a continent I could not tell; but it lay very high, 
extending from the W. to the W.S.W., at a very great 
distance; by my guess, it could not be less than fifteen 
or twenty leagues off. 

I could not tell what part of the world this might be, 
otherwise than that I knew it must be part of America, 
and, as I concluded, by all my observations, must be 
near the Spanish dominions, and perhaps was all inhab- 
ited by savages, where, if I should have landed, I had 
been in a worse condition than I was now; and therefore 
I acquiesced in the dispositions of Providence, which I 
began now to own and to believe ordered everything 
for the best; I say I quieted my mind with this, and 
left afflicting myself with fruitless wishes of being there. 

Besides, after some pause upon this affair, I considered 
that if this land was the Spanish coast I should cer- 
tainly, one time or other, see some vessel pass or repass 
one way or other; but if not, then it was the savage 
coast between the Spanish country and the Brazils, 
where were indeed the worst of savages; for they are 
cannibals, and fail not to murder and devour all the 
human bodies that fall into their hands. 


142 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


With these considerations, I walked very leisurely 
forward. I found that side of the island where I now 
was much pleasanter than mine — the open savanna 
fields sweet, adorned with flowers and grass, and full 
of very fine woods. I saw abundance of parrots, and 
fain would I have caught one, if possible, to have kept 
it to be tame, and taught it to speak to me. I did, after 
some painstaking, catch a young parrot, for I knocked 
it down with a stick, and having recovered it, I brought 
it home; but it was some years before I could make 
him speak; however, at last, I taught him to call me by 
my name very familiarly. But the accident that fol- 
lowed, though it be a trifle, will be very diverting in 
its place. 

I was exceedingly diverted with this journey. I 
found in the low ground hares (as I thought them to 
be) and foxes; but they differed greatly from all the 
other kinds I had met with, nor could I satisfy myself 
to eat them, though I killed several. But I had no need 
to be venturous, for I had no want of food, and of that 
which was very good, too, especially these three sorts, 
viz., goats, pigeons, and turtle, or tortoise, which, added 
to my grapes, Leadenhall Market could not have fur- 
nished a table better than I, in proportion to the com- 
pany; and though my case was deplorable enough, yet 
I had great cause for thankfulness that I was not driven 
to any extremities for food, but had rather plenty, even 
to dainties. 

I never traveled in this journey above two miles 
outright in a day, or thereabouts; but I took so many 
turns and returns to see what discoveries I could make, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


143 


that I came weary enough to the place where I resolved 
to sit down for all night; and then I either reposed 
myself in a tree, or surrounded myself with a row of 
stakes set upright in the ground, either from one tree to 
another, or so as no wild creature could come at me 
without waking me. As soon as I came to the seashore 
I was surprised to see that I had taken up my lot on the 
worst side of the island, for here, indeed, the shore was 
covered with innumerable turtles, whereas on the other 
side I had found but three in a year and a half. Here 
was also an infinite number of fowls of many kinds, some 
of which I had not seen before, and many of them very 
good meat, but such as I knew not the names of, except 
those called penguins. 

I could have shot as many as I pleased, but was very 
sparing of my powder and shot, and therefore had more 
mind to kill a she-goat, if I could, which I could better 
feed on; and though there were many goats here, more 
than on the other side of the island, yet it was with much 
more difficulty that I could come near them, the country 
being flat and even, and they saw me much sooner than 
when I was on the hills. 

I confess this side of the country was much pleasanter 
than mine; but yet I had not the least inclination to 
remove, for as I was fixed in my habitation it became 
natural to me, and I seemed all the while I was here to 
be as it were upon a journey, and from home. However, 
I traveled along the shore of the sea toward the east, I 
suppose about twelve miles, and then setting up a great 
pole upon the shore for a mark, I concluded I would go 
home again, and that the next journey I took should be 


144 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


on the other side of the island east from my dwelling, 
and so round till I came to my post again, of which 
more in its place. 

I took another way to come back than that I went, 
thinking I could easily keep all the island so much in 
my view that I could not miss finding my first dwelling 
by viewing the country; but I found myself mistaken, 
for, being come about two or three miles, I found myself 
descended into a very large valley, but so surrounded 
with hills, and those hills covered with wood, that I 
could not see which was my way by any direction but 
that of the sun, nor even then, unless I knew very well 
the position of the sun at that time of the day. It 
happened, to my further misfortune, that the weather 
proved hazy for three or four days while I was in this 
valley, and not being able to see the sun, I wandered 
about very uncomfortable, and at last was obliged to 
find out the seaside, look for my post, and come back 
the same way I went: and then, by easy journeys, I 
turned homeward, the weather being exceeding hot, 
and my gun, ammunition, hatchet, and other things, 
very heavy. 

In this journey my dog surprised a young kid, and 
seized upon it, and I running in to take hold of it, caught 
it, and saved it alive from the dog. I had a great mind 
to bring it home if I could, for I had often been musing 
whether it might not be possible to get a kid or two, 
and so raise a breed of tame goats, which might supply 
me when my powder and shot should be spent. I made 
a collar to this little creature, and with a string, which 
I made of some rope-yarn which I always carried about 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


H5 


me, I led him along, though with some difficulty, till I 
came to my bower, and there I inclosed him and left 
him, for I was very impatient to be at home, from whence 
I had been absent above a month. 

I cannot express what a satisfaction it was to me to 
come into my old hutch, and lie down in my hammock- 
bed. This little wandering journey, without settled 
place of abode, had been so unpleasant to me that my 
own house, as I called it to myself, was a perfect settle- 
ment to me, compared to that; and it rendered every- 
thing about me so comfortable that I resolved I would 
never go a great way from it again, while it should be 
my lot to stay on the island. 

I reposed myself here a week, to rest and regale 
myself after my long journey; during which, most of 
the time was taken up in the weighty affair of making 
a cage for my Poll, who began now to be a mere domestic, 
and to be mighty well acquainted with me. Then I 
began to think of the poor kid which I had pent in within 
my little circle, and resolved to go and fetch it home, 
or give it some food; accordingly I went, and found it 
where I left it, for indeed it could not get out, but was 
almost starved for want of food. I went and cut boughs 
of trees, and branches of such shrubs as I could find, 
and threw them over, and having fed it, I tied it as I did 
before, to lead it away; but it was so tame with being 
hungry, that I had no need to have tied it, for it followed 
me like a dog; and as I continually fed it, the creature 
became so loving, so gentle, and so fond, that it became 
from that time one of my domestics also, and would 
never leave me afterwards. 


10 


146 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


The rainy season of the autumnal equinox was now 
come, and I kept the 30th of September in the same 
solemn manner as before, being the anniversary of my 
landing on the island, having now been there two years, 
and no more prospect of being delivered than the first 
day I came there. I spent the whole day in humble 
and thankful acknowledgments of the many wonderful 
mercies which my solitary condition was attended with, 
and without which it might have been infinitely more 
miserable. I gave humble and hearty thanks that God 
had been pleased to discover to me that it was possible 
I might be more happy in this solitary condition than I 
should have been in a liberty of society, and in all the 
pleasures of the world; that he could fully make up to 
me the deficiencies of my solitary state, and the want 
of human society, by his presence, and the communi- 
cation of his grace to my soul, supporting, comforting, 
and encouraging me to depend upon his providence 
here, and hope for his eternal presence hereafter. 

It was now that I began sensibly to feel how much 
more happy the life I now led was, with all its miserable 
circumstances, than the wicked, cursed, abominable 
life I led all the past part of my days; and now having 
changed both my sorrows and my joys, my very desires 
altered, my affections changed their gusts, and my 
delights were perfectly new from what they were at first 
coming, or, indeed, for the two years past. 

Before, as I walked about, either on my hunting or 
for viewing the country, the anguish of my soul at my 
condition would break out upon me on a sudden, and 
my very heart would die within me, to think of the woods, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


H7 


the mountains, the deserts I was in, and how I was a 
prisoner, locked up with the eternal bars and bolts of 
the ocean, in an uninhabited wilderness, without redemp- 
tion. In the midst of the greatest composures of my 
mind this would break out upon me like a storm, and 
make me wring my hands, and weep like a child; some- 
times it would take me in the middle of my work, and I 
would immediately sit down and sigh, and look upon the 
ground for an hour or two together; and this was still 
worse to me, for if I could burst out into tears, or vent 
myself by words, it would go off, and the grief having 
exhausted itself would abate. 

But now I began to exercise myself with new thoughts. 
I daily read the Word of God, and applied all the 
comforts of it to my present state. One morning, being 
very sad, I opened the Bible upon these words, “I will 
never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Immediately it 
occurred that these words were to me. Why else should 
they be directed in such a manner, just at the moment 
when I was mourning over my condition, as one forsaken 
of God and man? “Well, then,” said I, “if God does 
not forsake me, of what ill consequence can it be, or 
what matters it, though the world should all forsake me, 
seeing on the other hand, if I had all the world, and should 
lose the favor and blessing of God, there would be no 
comparison in the loss?” 

From this moment I began to conclude in my mind 
that it was possible for me to be more happy in this for- 
saken, solitary condition than it was probable I should 
ever have been in any other particular state in the world ; 
and with this thought I was going to give thanks to God 


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for bringing me to this place. I know not what it was, 
but something shocked my mind at that thought, and 
I durst not speak the words. “How canst thou become 
such a hypocrite,” said I, even audibly, “to pretend 
to be thankful for a condition, which, however thou 
mayest endeavor to be contented with, thou wouldst 
rather pray heartily to be delivered from?” So I 
stopped there; but though I could not say I thanked 
God for being there, yet I sincerely gave thanks to God 
for opening my eyes, by whatever afflicting providences, 
to see the former condition of my life, and to mourn 
for my wickedness, and repent. I never opened the 
Bible, or shut it, but my very soul within me blessed 
God for directing my friend in England, without any 
order of mine, to pack it up among my goods, and for 
assisting me afterwards to save it out of the wreck of 
the ship. 

Thus, and in this disposition of mind, I began my 
third year; and though I have not given the reader the 
trouble of so particular an account of my works this 
year as the first; yet in general it may be observed that 
I was very seldom idle, but having regularly divided my 
time according to several daily employments that were 
before me, such as, first, my duty to God, and the read- 
ing the Scriptures, which I constantly set apart some 
time for, thrice every day; secondly, the going abroad 
with my gun for food, which generally took up three 
hours in every morning, when it did not rain; thirdly, 
the ordering, curing, preserving, and cooking what I 
had killed or caught for my supply : these took up great 
part of the day; also, it is to be considered, that in the 


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middle of the day, when the sun was in the zenith, the 
violence of the heat was too great to stir out; so that 
about four hours in the evening was all the time I could 
be supposed to work in, with this exception, that some- 
times I changed my hours of hunting and working, and 
went to work in the morning, and abroad with my gun 
in the afternoon. 

To this short time allowed for labor, I desire may be 
added the exceeding laboriousness of my work; the 
many hours which for want of tools, want of help, and 
want of skill, everything I did took up out of my time: 
for example, I was full two-and-forty days in making a 
board for a long shelf, which I wanted in my cave; 
whereas two sawyers, with their tools and a saw pit, 
would have cut six of them out of the same tree in half 
a day. 

My case was this: it was to be a large tree which 
was to be cut down, because my board was to be a broad 
one. This tree I was three days a-cutting down, and 
two more cutting off the boughs, and reducing it to a 
log, or piece of timber. With inexpressible hacking and 
hewing, I reduced both the sides of it into chips till it 
began to be light enough to move; then I turned it, 
and made one side of it smooth and flat as a board from 
end to end; then turning that side downward, cut the 
other side till I brought the plank to be about three 
inches thick, and smooth on both sides. Any one may 
judge the labor of my hands in such a piece of work; but 
labor and patience carried me through that, and many 
other things; I only observe this in particular, to show 
the reason why so much of my time went away with so 


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little work, viz., that what might be a little to be done 
with help and tools, was a vast labor and required a 
prodigious time to do alone, and by hand. But notwith- 
standing this, with patience and labor I went through 
many things, and indeed everything that my circum- 
stances made necessary to me to do, as will appear by 
what follows. 

I was now, in the months of November and Decem- 
ber, expecting my crop of barley and rice. The ground 
I had manured or dug up for them was not great; for, 
as I observed, my seed of each was not above the quantity 
of half a peck, for I had lost one whole crop by sowing 
in the dry season: but now my crop promised very well, 
when on a sudden I found I was in danger of losing it 
all again by enemies of several sorts, which it was scarcely 
possible to keep from it; as, first, the goats, and wild 
creatures which I called hares, which, tasting the sweet- 
ness of the blade, lay in it night and day, as soon as it 
came up, and ate it so close that it could get no time to 
shoot up into stalk. 

This I saw no remedy for, but by making an inclosure 
about it with a hedge, which I did with a great deal of 
toil, and the more, because it required a great deal of 
speed, the creatures daily spoiling my corn. However, 
as my arable land was but small, suited to my crop, I 
got it totally well fenced in about three weeks’ time; and 
shooting some of the creatures in the daytime, I set my 
dog to guard it in the night, tying him up to a stake at 
the gate, where he would stand and bark all night long; 
so in a little time the enemies forsook the place, and the 
corn grew very strong and well, and began to ripen apace. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


151 

But as the beasts ruined me before, while my corn 
was in the blade, so the birds were as likely to ruin me 
now, when it was in the ear; for going along by the place 
to see how it throve, I saw my little crop surrounded with 
fowls, of I know not how many sorts, who stood, as it 
were, watching till I should be gone. I immediately let 
fly among them, for I always had my gun with me. I 
had no sooner shot, but there rose up a little cloud 
of fowls, which I had not seen at all, from among the 
corn itself. 

This touched me sensibly, for I foresaw that in a few 
days they would devour all my hopes; that I should be 
starved, and never be able to raise a crop at all; and 
what to do I could not tell. However, I resolved not 
to lose my corn, if possible, though I should watch it 
night and day. In the first place, I went among it to 
see what damage was already done, and found they had 
spoiled a good deal of it ; but that as it was yet too green 
for them, the loss was not so great but the remainder was 
likely to be a good crop, if it could be saved. 

I stayed by it to load my gun, and then coming away, 
I could easily see the thieves sitting upon all the trees 
about me, as if they only waited till I was gone away, 
and the event proved it to be so; for as I walked off, as 
if I was gone, I was no sooner out of their sight but they 
dropped down one by one into the corn again. I was so 
provoked that I could not have patience to stay till 
more came on, knowing that every grain that they ate 
now was, as it might be said, a peck loaf to me, in the 
consequence; but coming up to the hedge, I fired again, 
and killed three of them. This was what I wished for; 


152 


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so I took them up, and served them as we serve noto- 
rious thieves in England, viz., hanged them in chains, for 
a terror to others. It is impossible to imagine almost 
that this should have had such an effect as it had, for 
the fowls would not only not come at the com, but, in 
short, they forsook all that part of the island, and I 
could never see a bird near the place as long as my scare- 
crows hung there. This I was very glad of, you may be 
sure, and about the latter end of December, which was 
our second harvest of the year, I reaped my corn. 

I was sadly put to it for a scythe or sickle to cut it 
down, and all I could do was to make one, as well as I 
could, out of one of my broadswords, or cutlasses, which 
I saved among the arms out of the ship. However, 
as my crop was but small, I had no great difficulty to cut 
it down; in short, I reaped it in my way, for I cut nothing 
off but the ears, and carried it away in a great basket 
which I had made, and so rubbed it out with my hands; 
and at the end of all my harvesting, I found that out 
of my half peck of seed I had nearly two bushels of rice, 
and above two bushels and a half of barley; that is to 
say, by my guess, for I had no measure at that time. 

However, this was a great encouragement to me, and 
I foresaw that in time it would please God to supply 
me with bread; and yet here I was perplexed again, for 
I neither knew how to grind or make m§al of my com, 
or indeed how to clean it and part it; nor, if made into 
meal how to make bread of it; and if how to make it, 
yet I knew not how to bake it ; these things being added 
to my desire of having a good quantity for store, and to 
secure a constant supply, I resolved not to taste any of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


153 


this crop, but to preserve it all for seed against the next 
season; and, in the meantime, to employ all my study 
and hours of working to accomplish this great work of 
providing myself with corn and bread. 

It might be truly said that now I worked for my bread. 
It is a little wonderful, and what I believe few people have 
thought much upon, viz., the strange multitude of little 
things necessary in providing, producing, curing, dress- 
ing, making, and finishing this one article of bread. 

I, that was reduced to a mere state of nature, found 
this to my daily discouragement, and was made more 
and more sensible of it every hour, even after I had got 
the first handful of seed-corn, which, as I have said, 
came up unexpectedly, and indeed as a surprise. 

First, I had no plow to turn up the earth; no spade 
or shovel to dig it. Well, this I conquered by making me 
a wooden spade, as I observed before; but this did my 
work but in a wooden manner; and though it cost me 
a great many days to make it, yet, for want of iron, it 
not only wore out the sooner, but made my work the 
harder, and made it be performed much worse. How- 
ever, this I bore with too, and was content to work it 
out with patience, and bear with the badness of the per- 
formance. When the corn was sown, I had no harrow, 
but was forced to go over it myself, and drag a great heavy 
bough of a tree over it to scratch it, as it may be called, 
rather than rake or harrow it. When it was growing, 
or grown, I have observed already how many things I 
wanted to fence it, secure it, mow or reap it, cure and 
carry it home, thrash, part it from the chaff, and save 
it. Then I wanted a mill to grind it, sieves to dress it, 


154 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


yeast and salt to make it into bread, and an oven to 
bake it in; and all these things I did without, as shall be 
observed; and yet the com was an inestimable comfort 
and advantage to me too. But this, as I said, made 
everything laborious and tedious to me; but that there 
was no help for; neither was my time so much loss to 
me, because, as I divided it, a certain part of it was every 
day appointed to these works; and as I had resolved 
to use none of the com for bread till I had a greater 
quantity by me, I had the next six months to apply 
myself wholly, by labor and invention, to furnish myself 
with utensils proper for the performing all the oper- 
ations necessary for making the com, when I had it fit 
for my use. 

But, first, I was to prepare more land, for I had now 
seed enough to sow above an acre of ground. Before 
I did this, I had a week’s work at least to make me a 
spade, which, when it was done, was but a sorry one 
indeed, and very heavy, and required double labor to 
work with it. However, I went through that, and sowed 
my seed in two large flat pieces of ground, as near my 
house as I could find them to my mind, and fenced them 
in with a huge hedge, the stakes of which were all cut 
of that wood which I had set before, which I knew would 
grow; so that, in one year’s time, I knew I should have 
a quick or living hedge, that would want but little repair. 
This work was not so little as to take me up less than three 
months, because great part of that time was of the wet 
season, when I could not go abroad. Within doors, that 
is, when it rained and I could not go out, I found employ- 
ment in the following occupations — always observing 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


155 


that all the while I was at work I diverted myself with 
talking to my parrot, and teaching him to speak; and I 
quickly learnt him to know his own name, and at last 
to speak it out pretty loud, “Poll,” which was the first 
word I ever heard spoken in the island by any mouth 
but my own. This, therefore, was not my work, but 
an assistant to my work; for now, as I said, I had a great 
employment upon my hands, as follows: viz., I had long 
studied, by some means or other, to make myself some 
earthen vessels, which, indeed, I wanted sorely, but knew 
not where to come at them. However, considering the 
heat of the climate, I did not doubt but if I could find 
out any clay, I might botch up some such pot as might, 
being dried by the sun, be hard enough and strong enough 
to bear handling, and to hold anything that was dry, 
and required to be kept so; and as this was necessary 
in preparing corn, meal, etc., which was the thing I was 
upon, I resolved to make some as large as I could, and 
fit only to stand like jars, to hold what should be put 
into them. 

It would make the reader pity me, or rather laugh 
at me, to tell how many awkward ways I took to raise 
this paste; what odd, misshapen, ugly things I made; 
how many of them fell in, and how many fell out — the 
clay not being stiff enough to bear its own weight; how 
many cracked by the over- violent heat of the sun, being 
set out too hastily; and how many fell to pieces with 
only removing, as well before as after they were dried; 
and, in a word, how, after having labored hard to find 
the clay — to dig it, to temper it, to bring it home, and 
work it — I could not make above two large earthen ugly 


156 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


things (I cannot call them jars) in about two months’ 
labor. 

However, as the sun baked these two very dry and 
hard, I lifted them very gently up, and set them down 
again in two great wicker baskets, which I had made 
on purpose for them, that they might not break; and 
as between the pot and the basket there was a little 
room to spare, I stuffed it full of the rice and barley straw; 
and these two pots being to stand always dry, I thought 
they would hold my dry corn, and perhaps the meal, 
when the corn was bruised. 

Though I miscarried so much in my design for large 
pots, yet I made several smaller things with better suc- 
cess; such as little round pots, flat dishes, pitchers, and 
pipkins, and anything my hand turned to; and the heat 
of the sun baked them strangely hard. 

But all this would not answer my end, which was to 
get an earthen pot to hold what was liquid, and bear the 
fire; which none of these could do. It happened after 
some time, making a pretty large fire for cooking my 
meat, when I went to put it out after I had done with it 
I found a broken piece of one of my earthenware vessels 
in the fire, burnt as hard as a stone, and red as a tile. 
I was agreeably surprised to see it, and said to myself 
that certainly they might be made to burn whole, if 
they would burn broken. 

This set me to study how to order my fire so as to 
make it burn me some pots. I had no notion of a kiln, 
such as the potters burn in, or of glazing them with lead, 
though I had some lead to do it with ; but I placed three 
large pipkins, and two or three pots, in a pile, one upon 


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157 


another, and placed my firewood all around it, with a 
great heap of embers under them. I plied the fire with 
fresh fuel round the outside, and upon the top, till I 
saw the pots in the inside red-hot quite through, and 
observed that they did not crack at all; when I saw 
them clear red, I let them stand in that heat about five 
or six hours, till I found one of them, though it did not 
crack, did melt or run; for the sand which was mixed 
with the clay melted by the violence of the heat, and 
would have run into glass if I had gone on; so I slacked 
my fire gradually till the pots began to abate of the red 
color, and watching them all night, that I might not 
let the fire abate too fast, in the morning I had three 
very good (I will not say handsome) pipkins, and two 
other earthen pots, as hard burnt as could be desired, and 
one of them perfectly glazed with the running of the sand. 

After this experiment, I need not say that I wanted 
no sort of earthenware for my use ; but I must needs say 
as to the shapes of them they were very indifferent, as 
any one may suppose, when I had no way of making 
them but as the children make dirt pies, or as a woman 
would make pies that never learned to raise paste. 

No joy at a thing of so mean a nature was ever equal 
to mine, when I found I had made an earthen pot that 
would bear the fire; and I had hardly patience to stay 
till they were cold before I set one on the fire again, with 
some water in it, to boil me some meat, which it did 
admirably well; and with a piece of a kid I made some 
very good broth, though I wanted oatmeal and several 
other ingredients requisite to make it as good as I would 
have had it. 


158 


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My next concern was to get me a stone mortar to 
stamp or beat some com in; for as to the mill, there was 
no thought of arriving to that perfection of art with 
one pair of hands. To supply this want I was at a great 
loss; for, of all the trades in the world, I was as perfectly 
unqualified for a stonecutter as for any whatever; neither 
had I any tools to go about it with. I spent many a day 
to find out a great stone big enough to cut hollow, and 
make fit for a mortar, and could find none at all, except 
what was in the solid rock, and which I had no way to 
dig or cut out; nor indeed were the rocks in the island 
of hardness sufficient, but were all of a sandy, crumbling 
stone, which would neither bear the weight of a heavy 
pestle, nor would break the com without filling it with 
sand. So, after a great deal of time lost in searching for 
a stone, I gave it over, and resolved to look out a great 
block of hard wood, which I found indeed much easier; 
and getting one as big as I had strength to stir, I rounded 
it and formed it on the outside with my ax and hatchet, 
and then, with the help of fire and infinite labor, made a 
hollow place in it, as the Indians in Brazil make their 
canoes. After this, I made a great heavy pestle, or 
beater, of the wood called the iron- wood; and this I 
prepared and laid by against I had my next crop of corn, 
which I proposed to myself to grind, or rather pound my 
corn or meal, to make my bread. 

My next difficulty was to make a sieve, or searce, 
to dress my meal, and to part it from the bran and the 
husk; without which I did not see it possible I could 
have any bread. This was a most difficult thing, so 
much as but to think on, for to be sure I had nothing 



I wanted no sort of earthenware for my use 

















































































































































































































































































































ROBINSON CRUSOE 


159 


like the necessary things to make it with; I mean fine 
thin canvas, or stuff, to searce the meal through. And 
here I was at a full stop for many months; nor did I 
really know what to do. Linen I had none left but 
what was mere rags; I had goats’ hair, but neither knew 
I how to weave or spin it; and had I known how, here 
were no tools to work with. All the remedy that I 
found for this was that at last I did remember I had, 
among the seamen’s clothes which were saved out of the 
ship, some neckcloths of calico or muslin; and with some 
pieces of these I made three small sieves, but proper 
enough for the work; and thus I made shift for a good 
many years; how I did afterwards, I shall show in its 
place. 

The baking part was the next thing to be considered, 
and how I should make bread when I came to have corn; 
for, first, I had no yeast; as to that part, as there was 
no supplying the want, so I did not concern myself 
much about it. But for an oven, I was indeed in great 
pain. At length I found out an experiment for that also, 
which was this: I made some earthen vessels very broad, 
but not deep, that is to say, about two feet diameter, and 
not above nine inches deep; these I burned in the fire, as 
I had done the other, and laid them by ; and when I wanted 
to bake, I made a great fire upon the hearth, which I 
had paved with some square tiles, of my own making 
and burning also; but I should not call them square. 

When the firewood was burned pretty much into 
embers, or live coals, I drew them forward upon the 
hearth, so as to cover it all over, and there I let them lie 
till the hearth was very hot; then sweeping away all the 


i6o 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


embers, I set down my loaf or loaves, and whelming down 
the earthen pot upon them, drew the embers all round 
the outside of the pot, to keep in and add to the heat; 
and thus, as well as in the best oven in the world, I baked 
my barley loaves, and became, in little time, a good 
pastry cook into the bargain; for I made myself several 
cakes and puddings of the rice. Indeed, I made no 
pies, neither had I anything to put into them, supposing 
I had, except the flesh either of fowls or goats. 

It need not be wondered at if all these things took me 
up most part of the third year of my abode here; for 
it is to be observed that, in the intervals of these things, 
I had my new harvest and husbandry to manage; for I 
reaped my com in its season, and carried it home as 
well as I could, and laid it up in the ear, in my large 
baskets, till I had time to rub it out, for I had no floor 
to thrash it on, or instrument to thrash it with. 

And now, indeed, my stock of corn increasing, I really 
wanted to build my barns bigger; I wanted a place to 
lay it up in, for the increase of the com now yielded me so 
much that I had of the barley about twenty bushels, 
and of the rice as much, or more; insomuch that I now 
resolved to begin to use it freely; for my bread had been 
quite gone a great while; also I resolved to see what 
quantity would be sufficient for me a whole year, and to 
sow but once a year. 

Upon the whole, I found that the forty bushels of 
barley and rice were much more than I could consume 
in a year; so I resolved to sow just the same quantity 
every year that I sowed the last, in hopes that such a 
quantity would fully provide me with bread. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


161 


All the while these things were doing, you may be sure 
my thoughts ran many times upon the prospect of land 
which I had seen from the other side of the island; and 
I was not without secret wishes that I was on shore 
there, fancying that, seeing the mainland, and an in- 
habited country, I might find some way or other to con- 
vey myself farther, and perhaps at last find some means 
of escape. 

But all this while I made no allowance for the dangers 
of such a condition, and how I might fall into the hands 
of savages, and perhaps such as I might have reason to 
think far worse than the lions and tigers of Africa: 
that if I once came into their power I should run a hazard 
more than a thousand to one of being killed, and perhaps 
of being eaten; for I had heard that the people of the 
Caribbean coasts were cannibals, or men eaters, and I 
knew by the latitude that I could not be far off from that 
shore! That suppose they were not cannibals, yet they 
might kill me, as many Europeans who had fallen into 
their hands had been served, even when they had been 
ten or twenty together — much more I, that was but one, 
and could make little or no defense. All these things, 
I say, which I ought to have considered well of, and I 
did cast up in my thoughts afterwards, yet took up none 
of my apprehensions at first, and my head ran mightily 
upon the thought of getting over to that shore. 

Now I wished for my boy Xury, and the long boat 
with the shoulder-of -mutton sail, with which I sailed 
above a thousand miles on the coast of Africa: but this 
was in vain. Then I thought I would go and look at our 
ship’s boat, which, as I have said, was blown up upon 


ii 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


162 

the shore a great way, in the storm, when we were first 
cast away. She lay almost where she did at first, but 
not quite, and was turned, by the force of the waves 
and the winds, almost bottom upward, against the high 
ridge of beachy, rough sands, but no water about her 
as before. If I had had hands to have refitted her, and 
to have launched her into the water, the boat would have 
done well enough; and I might have gone back into the 
Brazils with her easily enough; but I might have easily 
foreseen that I could no more turn her and set her up- 
4 right upon her bottom than I could remove the island. 
However, I went to the wood, and cut levers and rollers, 
and brought them to the boat, resolved to try what I 
could do, suggesting to myself that if I could but turn 
her down, I might easily repair the damage she had re- 
ceived, and she -would be a very good boat, and I might 
go to sea in her very easily. 

I spared no pains, indeed, in this piece of fruitless 
toil, and spent, I think, three or four weeks about it. 
At last, finding it impossible to heave it up with my little 
strength, I fell to digging away the sand, to undermine 
it, and so to make it fall down, setting pieces of wood 
to thrust and guide it right in the fall. 

But when I had done this I was unable to stir it up 
again, or to get under it, much less to move it forward 
towards the water; so I was forced to give it over. And 
yet, though I gave over the hopes of the boat, my desire 
to venture over for the main increased rather than 
decreased, as the means for it seemed impossible 

This at length set me upon thinking whether it was 
not possible to make myself a canoe, or periagua, such 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


163 

as the natives of those climates make, even without 
tools, or, as I might say, without hands — viz., of the 
trunk of a great tree. This I not only thought possible, 
but easy, and pleased myself extremely with my thoughts 
of making it, and with my having much more convenience 
for it than any of the negroes or Indians, but not at all 
considering the particular inconveniences which I lay 
under more than the Indians did, viz., want of hands to 
move it into the water when it was made — a difficulty 
much harder for me to surmount than all the consequences 
of want of tools could be to them. For what was it to 
me, that when I had chosen a vast tree in the wood, I 
might with great trouble cut it down, if after I might be 
able with my tools to hew and dub the outside into the 
proper shape of a boat, and burn or cut out the inside 
to make it hollow, so as to make a boat of it — if, after 
all this, I must leave it just there where I found it, and 
was not able to launch it into the water? 

One would have thought I could not have had the 
least reflection upon my mind of my circumstances while 
I was making this boat, but I should have immediately 
thought how I should get it into the sea. But my 
thoughts were so intent upon my voyage over the sea 
in it that I never once considered how I should get it off 
the land; and it was really, in its own nature, more 
easy for me to guide it over forty-five miles of sea than 
about forty-five fathoms of land, where it lay, to set it 
afloat in the water. 

I went to work upon this boat the most like a fool 
that ever man did, who had any of his senses awake. I 
pleased myself with the design without determining 


1 64 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


whether I was ever able to undertake it; not but that 
the difficulty of launching my boat came often into my 
head; but I put a stop to my inquiries into it by this 
foolish answer which I gave myself: “Let me first 
make it. I warrant I shall find some way or other to get 
it along when it is done.” 

This was a most preposterous method; but the 
eagerness of my fancy prevailed, and to work I went, 
and felled a cedar tree. I question much whether 
Solomon ever had such a one for the building the Temple 
at Jerusalem; it was five feet ten inches diameter at 
the lower part next the stump, and four feet eleven 
inches diameter at the end of twenty-two feet; after 
which it lessened for a while, and then parted into 
branches. It was not without infinite labor that I 
felled this tree. I was twenty days hacking and hewing 
at it at the bottom; I was fourteen more getting the 
branches and limbs and the vast spreading head of it 
cut off, which I hacked and hewed through with my ax 
and hatchet, and inexpressible labor; after this, it cost 
me a month to shape it and dub it to a proportion, and 
to something like the bottom of a boat, that it might 
swim upright as it ought to do. It cost me near three 
months more to clear the inside, and work it out so as 
to make an exact boat of it; this I did, indeed, without 
fire, by mere mallet and chisel, and by the dint of hard 
labor, till I had brought it to be a very handsome peria- 
gua, and big enough to have carried six-and-twenty 
men, and consequently big enough to have carried me 
and all my cargo. 

When I had gone through this work, I was extremely 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


165 

delighted with it. The boat was really much bigger 
than ever I saw a canoe or a periagua, that was made of 
one tree, in my life. Many a weary stroke it had cost, 
you may be sure — for there remained nothing but to 
get it into the water; and had I gotten it into the water, 
I make no question but I should have begun the maddest 
voyage, and the most unlikely to be performed, that 
ever was undertaken. 

But all my devices to get it into the water failed me; 
though they cost me infinite labor too. It lay about one 
hundred yards from the water, and not more; but the 
first inconvenience was, it was up hill towards the creek. 
Well, to take away this discouragement, I resolved to 
dig into the surface of the earth, and so make a declivity. 
This I began, and it cost me a prodigious deal of pains 
(but who grudge pains that have their deliverance in 
view?); but when this was worked through, and this 
difficulty managed, it was still much at one, for I could 
no more stir the canoe than I could the other boat. 
Then I measured the distance of the ground, and resolved 
to cut a dock or canal, to bring the water up to the canoe, 
seeing I could not bring the canoe down to the water. 
Well, I began this work, and when I began to enter into 
it, and calculate how deep it was to be dug, how broad, 
how the stuff was to be thrown out, I found that, by the 
number of hands I had, being none but my own, it must 
have been ten or twelve years before I could have gone 
through with it; for the shore lay so high that at the 
upper end it must have been at least twenty feet deep; 
so at length, though with great reluctancy, I gave this 
attempt over also. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


1 66 

This grieved me heartily; and now I saw, though too 
late, the folly of beginning a work before we count the 
cost, and before we judge rightly of our own strength to 
go through with it. 

In the middle of this work I finished my fourth year 
in this place, and kept my anniversary with the same 
devotion, and with as much comfort as ever before; for, 
by a constant study and serious application of the Word 
of God, and by the assistance of his grace, I gained a 
different knowledge from what I had before. I enter- 
tained different notions of things. I looked now upon the 
world as a thing remote, which I had nothing to do with, 
no expectation from, and, indeed, no desires about: in 
a word, I had nothing indeed to do with it, nor was ever 
likely to have. So I thought it looked, as we may per- 
haps look upon it hereafter, viz., as a place I had lived 
in, but was come out of it; and well might I say, as Father 
Abraham to Dives, “Between me and thee is a great 
gulf fixed.” 

In the first place I was removed from all the wicked- 
ness of the world here; I had neither the lust of the flesh, 
the lust of the eye, nor the pride of life. I had nothing 
to covet, for I had all I was now capable of enjoying; 
I was lord of the whole manor; or, if I pleased, I might 
call myself king or emperor over the whole country which 
I had possession of. There were no rivals; I had no 
competitor, none to dispute sovereignty or command 
with me. I might have raised ship-ladings of corn, but 
I had no use for it; so I let as little grow as I thought 
enough for my occasion. I had tortoises or turtles 
enough, but now and then one was as much as I could 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


167 

put to any use. I had timber enough to have built a 
fleet of ships; and I had grapes enough to have made 
wine, or to have cured into raisins, to have loaded that 
fleet when it had been built. 

But all I could make use of was all that was valuable: 
I had enough to eat and to supply my wants, and what 
was all the rest to me? If I killed more flesh than I 
could eat, the dog must eat it, or the vermin; if I sowed 
more corn than I could eat, it must be spoiled; the trees 
that I cut down were lying to rot on the ground ; I could 
make no more use of them than for fuel, and that I had 
no occasion for but to dress my food. 

In a word, the nature and experience of things dictated 
to me, upon just reflection, that all the good things of 
this world are no further good to us than they are for 
our use; and that, whatever we may heap up indeed to 
give others, we may enjoy as much as we can use, and 
no more. The most covetous, griping miser in the world 
would have been cured of the vice of covetousness if 
he had been in my case; for I possessed infinitely more 
than I knew what to do with. I had no room for desire, 
except it was of things which I had not, and they were 
but trifles, though, indeed, of great use to me. I had, 
as I hinted before, a parcel of money, as well gold as 
silver, about thirty-six pounds sterling. Alas! there 
the nasty, sorry, useless stuff lay! I had no manner of 
business for it; and I often thought with myself that 
I would have given a handful of it for a gross of tobacco 
pipes; or for a hand-mill to grind my corn; nay, I 
would have given it all for sixpenny-worth of turnip and 
carrot seed out of England, or for a handful of peas and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


1 68 

beans and a bottle of ink. As it was, I had not the least 
advantage by it, or benefit from it; but there it lay in a 
drawer, and grew moldy with the damp of the cave in 
the wet seasons. And if I had had the drawer full of 
diamonds it had been the same case; they had been of 
no manner of value to me, because of no use. 

I had now brought my state of life to be much easier 
in itself than it was at first and much easier to my mind, 
as well as to my body. I frequently sat down to meat 
with thankfulness, and admired the hand of God’s 
providence, which had thus spread my table in the wilder- 
ness. I learned to look more upon the bright side of my 
condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider 
what I enjoyed rather than what I wanted; and this 
gave me sometimes such secret comforts that I cannot 
express them; and which I take notice of here, to put 
those discontented people in mind of it who cannot 
enjoy comfortably what God has given them because 
they see and covet something that he has not given 
them. All our discontents about what we want 
appeared to me to spring from the want of thankful- 
ness for what we have. 

Another reflection was of great use to me, and doubt- 
less would be so to any one that should fall into such dis- 
tress as mine was; and this was, to compare my present 
condition with what I at first expected it would be; nay, 
with what it would certainly have been if the good provi- 
dence of God had not wonderfully ordered the ship to 
be cast up nearer to the shore, where I not only could 
come at her, but could bring what I got out of her to the 
shore, for my relief and comfort; without which, I had 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 169 

wanted for tools to work, weapons for defense, and gun- 
powder and shot for getting my food. 

I spent whole hours, I may say whole days, in repre- 
senting to myself, in the most lively colors, how I must 
have acted if I had got nothing out of the ship. How I 
could not have so much as got any food, except fish and 
turtles; and that, as it was long before I found any of 
them, I must have perished first; that I should have 
lived, if I had not perished, like a mere savage; that if I 
had killed a goat or a fowl, by any contrivance, I had no 
way to flay or open it, or part the flesh from the skin and 
the bowels, or to cut it up; but must gnaw it with my 
teeth, and pull it with my claws, like a beast. 

These reflections made me very sensible of the good- 
ness of Providence to me, and very thankful for my pres- 
ent condition, with all its hardships and misfortunes; 
and this part also I cannot but recommend to the reflec- 
tion of those who are apt, in their misery, to say, “ Is any 
affliction like mine?” Let them consider how much 
worse the cases of some people are, and their case might 
have been, if Providence had thought fit. 

I had another reflection, which assisted me also to 
comfort my mind with hopes; and this was comparing 
my present situation with what I had deserved, and had 
therefore reason to expect from the hand of Providence. 
I had lived a dreadful life, perfectly destitute of the knowl- 
edge and fear of God. I had been well instructed by 
father and mother; neither had they been wanting to me 
in their early endeavors to infuse a religious awe of God 
into my mind, a sense of my duty, and what the nature 
and end of my being required of me. But alas! falling 


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early into the seafaring life, which, of all lives, is the most 
destitute of the fear of God, though his terrors are always 
before them; I say, falling early into the seafaring life, 
and into seafaring company, all that little sense of religion 
which I entertained was laughed out of me by my mess- 
mates; by a hardened despising of dangers, and the views 
of death, which grew habitual to me; by my long absence 
from all manner of opportunities to converse with any- 
thing but what was like myself, or to hear anything of 
what was good, or tended towards it. 

So void was I of everything that was good, or of the 
least sense of what I was, or was to be, that, in the greatest 
deliverances I enjoyed — such as my escape from Sallee; 
my being taken up by the Portuguese master of the ship ; 
my being planted so well in the Brazils; my receiving 
the cargo from England, and the like — I never once had 
the words, “Thank God!” so much as on my mind, or 
in my mouth; nor in the greatest distress had I so much 
thought as to pray to him, or so much as to say, “Lord, 
have mercy upon me!” no, not to mention the name of 
God, unless it was to swear by, and blaspheme it. 

I had terrible reflections upon my mind for many 
months, as I have already observed, on the account of 
my wicked and hardened life past; and when I looked 
about me, and considered what particular providences 
had attended me since my coming into this place, and 
how God had dealt bountifully with me — had not only 
punished me less than my iniquity had deserved, but had 
so plentifully provided for me — this gave me great hopes 
that my repentance was accepted, and that God had yet 
mercies in store for me. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


171 


With these reflections, I worked my mind up not only 
to resignation to the will of God in the present disposition 
of my circumstances but even to a sincere thankfulness 
for my condition; and that I, who was yet a living man, 
ought not to complain, seeing I had not the due punish- 
ment of my sins. That I enjoyed so many mercies 
which I had no reason to have expected in that place. 
That I ought never more to repine at my condition, but 
to rejoice, and to give daily thanks for that daily bread 
which nothing but a crowd of wonders could have brought. 
That I ought to consider I had been fed even by a mira- 
cle, even as great as that of feeding Elijah by ravens; 
nay, by a long series of miracles. And that I could 
hardly have named a place in the uninhabited part of 
the world where I could have been cast more to my 
advantage; a place where, as I had no society, which 
was my affliction on one hand, so I found no ravenous 
beasts, no furious wolves or tigers, to threaten my life, 
no venomous creatures or poisonous, which I might have 
fed on to my hurt; no savages to murder and devour me. 
In a word, as my life was a life of sorrow one way, so it 
was a life of mercy another; and I wanted nothing to 
make it a life of comfort but to be able to make my sense 
of God’s goodness to me, and care over me in this condi- 
tion, be my daily consolation; and after I made a just 
improvement of these things, I went away, and was no 
more sad. I had now been here so long that many things 
which I brought on shore for my help were either quite 
gone, or very much wasted and near spent. 

My ink, as I observed, had been gone some time, all 
but a very little, which I eked out with water, a little 


172 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


and a little, till it was so pale it scarce left any appearance 
of black upon the paper. As long as it lasted I made 
use of it to minute down the days of the month on which 
any remarkable thing happened to me; and first, by 
casting up times past, I remembered that there was a 
strange concurrence of days in the various providences 
which befell me, and which, if I had been superstitiously 
inclined to observe days as fatal or fortunate, I might 
have had reason to have looked upon with a great deal 
of curiosity. 

First, I had observed, that the same day that I broke 
away from my father and my friends, and ran away to 
Hull, in order to go to sea, the same day afterwards I was 
taken by the Sallee man-of-war, and made a slave; the 
same day of the year that I escaped out of the wreck of 
that ship in Yarmouth Roads, that same day of the year 
afterwards I made my escape from Sallee in a boat; the 
same day of the year I was bom on, viz., the 20th of 
September, the same day I had my life so miraculously 
saved twenty-six years after, when I was cast on shore 
in this island; so that my wicked life and solitary life 
began both on a day. 

The next thing to my ink being wasted, was that of my 
bread, I mean the biscuit which I brought out of the ship ; 
this I had husbanded to the last degree, allowing myself 
but one cake of bread a day for above a year; and yet I 
was quite without bread for a year before I got any com 
of my own; and great reason I had to be thankful that 
I had any at all, the getting it being, as has been already 
observed, next to miraculous. 

My clothes, too, began to decay mightily; as to 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


173 


linen, I had had none a good while, except some checkered 
shirts which I found in the chests of the other seamen, 
and which I carefully preserved; because many times 
I could bear no other clothes on but a shirt: and it was 
a very great help to me that I had, among all the men’s 
clothes of the ship, almost three dozen of shirts. There 
were also several thick watchcoats of the seamen’s which 
were left behind, but they were too hot to wear: and 
though it is true that the weather was so violently hot 
that there was no need of clothes, yet I could not r r 

naked — no, though I had been inclined to it, wh. I v ns 
not; nor could I abide the thoughts of it, though I was 
all alone. One reason why I could not go naked was, I 
could not bear the heat of the sun so well when quite 
naked as with some clothes on; nay, the very heat fre- 
quently blistered my skin; whereas, with a shirt on, 
the air itself made some motion, and whistling under the 
shirt, was twofold cooler than without it. No more could 
I ever bring myself to go out in the heat of the sun without 
a cap or a hat; the heat of the sun, beating with such 
violence as it does in that place, would give me the head- 
ache presently, by darting so directly on my head, with- 
out a cap or hat on, so that I could not bear it; whereas, 
if I put on my hat, it would presently go away. 

Upon these views, I began to consider about putting 
the few rags I had, which I called clothes, into some 
order. I had worn out all the waistcoats I had, and my 
business was now to try if I could not make jackets out 
of the great watchcoats which I had by me, and with 
such other materials as I had; so I set to work, tailoring, 
or rather, indeed, botching, for I made most piteous 


174 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


work of it. However, I made shift to make two or three 
waistcoats, which I hoped would serve me a great while; 
as for breeches or drawers, I made but a very sorry 
shift indeed till afterwards. 

I have mentioned that I saved the skins of all the 
creatures that I killed, I mean four-footed ones, and I 
had them hung up stretched out with sticks in the sun, 
by which means some of them were so dry and hard that 
they were fit for little, but others, it seems, were very 
useful. The first thing I made of these was a great cap 
for my head, with the hair on the outside, to shoot off 
the rain; and this I performed so well, that after, I 
made me a suit of clothes wholly of those skins — that 
is to say, a waistcoat, and breeches open at the knees, 
and both loose, for they were rather wanting to keep me 
cool than to keep me warm. I must not omit to ack- 
nowledge that they were wretchedly made; for if I was 
a bad carpenter, I was a worse tailor. However, they 
were such as I made a very good shift with, and when I 
was abroad, if it happened to rain, the hair of the waist- 
coat and cap being outermost, I was kept very dry. 

After this, I spent a great deal of time and pains to 
make an umbrella. I was indeed in great want of one, 
and had a great mind to make one. I had seen them 
made in the Brazils, where they are very useful in the 
great heats which are there, and I felt the heats every 
jot as great here, and greater too, being nearer the 
equinox; besides, as I was obliged to be much abroad, 
it was a most useful thing to me, as well for the rains 
as the heats. I took a world of pains at it, and was a 
great while before I could make anything likely to hold; 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


175 


nay, after I thought I had hit the way, I spoiled two or 
three before I made one to my mind. But at last I 
made one that answered indifferently well; the main 
difficulty I found was to make it to let down. I could 
make it spread, but if it did not let down too, and draw 
in, it would not be portable for me any way but just over 
my head, which would not do. However, at last, as 
I said, I made one to answer. I covered it with skins, 
the hair upwards, so that it cast off the rain like a pent- 
house and kept off the sun so effectually that I could 
walk out in the hottest of the weather with greater 
advantage than I could before in the coolest, and when 
I had no need of it I could close it and carry it under 
my arm. 

Thus I lived mighty comfortably, my mind being 
entirely composed by resigning to the will of God, and 
throwing myself wholly upon the disposal of his provi- 
dence. This made my life better than sociable, for when 
I began to regret the want of conversation, I would ask 
myself whether thus conversing mutually with my own 
thoughts (and as I hope I may say, with even my Maker, 
by ejaculations and petitions) was not better than the 
utmost enjoyment of human society in the world? 

I cannot say that, after this for five years, any ex- 
traordinary thing happened to me, but I lived on in 
the same course, in the same posture and place, as before. 
The chief thing I was employed in, besides my yearly 
labor of planting my barley and rice, and curing my 
raisins — of both which I always kept up just enough to 
have sufficient stock of the year’s provision beforehand — 
I say, besides this yearly labor, and my daily labor of 


176 


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going out with my gun, I had one labor to make me a 
canoe, which at last I finished; so that, by digging a 
canal to it of six feet wide and four feet deep, I brought 
it into the creek, almost half a mile. As for the first, 
which was so vastly big, as I made it without considering 
beforehand, as I ought to do, how I should be able to 
launch it, so, never being able to bring it into the water, 
or bring the water to it, I was obliged to let it lie where 
it was, as a memorandum to teach me to be wiser the 
next time. Indeed, the next time, though I could not 
get a tree proper for it, and was in a place where I could 
not get the water to it at any less distance than, as I 
have said, of near half a mile, yet, as I saw it was prac- 
ticable at last, I never gave it over; and though I was 
near two years about it, yet I never grudged my labor, 
in hopes of having a boat to go off to sea at last. 

However, though my little periagua was finished, yet 
the size of it was not at all answerable to the design which 
I had in view when I made the first; I mean of venturing 
over to the terra firma, where it was above forty miles 
broad; accordingly, the smallness of my boat assisted 
to put an end to that design, and now I thought no more 
of it. As I had a boat, my next design was to make a 
tour round the island; for as I had been on the other side 
in one place, crossing, as I have already described it, 
over the land, so the discoveries I made in that journey 
made me very eager to see other parts of the coast; and 
now I had a boat, I thought of nothing but sailing round 
the island. 

For this purpose, and that I might do everything with 
discretion and consideration, I fitted up a little mast in 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


177 


my boat, and made a sail to it out of some of the pieces 
of the ship’s sails which lay in store, and of which I had 
a great store by me. Having fitted my mast and sail, 
and tried the boat, I found she would sail very well; 
then I made little lockers, or boxes, at each end of my 
boat, to put provisions, necessaries, ammunition, etc., 
into, to be kept dry, either from rain or the spray of the 
sea; and a little, long, hollow place I cut in the inside 
of the boat, where I could lay my gun, making a flap to 
hang down over it, to keep it dry. 

I fixed my umbrella also in a step at the stern, like 
a mast, to stand over my head, and keep the heat of the 
sun off of me, like an awning. And thus I every now and 
then took a little voyage upon the sea; but never went 
far out, nor far from the creek. At last, being eager 
to view the circumference of my little kingdom, I resolved 
upon my tour; and accordingly I victualed my ship for 
the voyage, putting in two dozen of loaves (cakes I 
should rather call them) of barley bread, an earthen pot 
full of parched rice (a food I ate a great deal of), a little 
bottle of rum, half a goat, and powder with shot for 
killing more, and two large watchcoats, of those which, 
as I mentioned before, I had saved out of the seamen’s 
chests. These I took, one to lie upon and the other to 
cover me in the night. 

It was the 6th of November, in the sixth year of my 
reign, or my captivity, which you please, that I set out 
on this voyage, and I found it much longer than I ex- 
pected; for though the island itself was not very large, 
yet when I came to the east side of it I found a great 
ledge of rocks lie out about two leagues into sea, some 


12 


178 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


above water, some under it; and beyond that a shoal of 
sand, lying dry half a league more, so that I was obliged 
to go a great way out to sea to double that point. 

When I first discovered them I was going to give 
over my enterprise, and come back again, not know- 
ing how far it might oblige me to go out to sea; and, 
above all, doubting how I should get back again; so 
I came to an anchor; for I had made a kind of an 
anchor with a piece of a broken grappling which I got 
out of the ship. 

Having secured my boat, I took my gun and went 
on shore, climbing up a hill, which seemed to overlook 
that point where I saw the full extent of it, and resolved 
to venture. 

In my viewing the sea from that hill where I stood I 
perceived a strong and indeed a most furious current, 
which ran to the east, and even came close to the point; 
and I took the more notice of it, because I saw there 
might be some danger that when I came into it, I might 
be carried out to sea by the strength of it, and not be 
able to make the island again. And, indeed, had I not 
got first upon this hill, I believe it would have been so; 
for there was the same current on the other side of the 
island, only that it set off at a farther distance, and I saw 
there was a strong eddy under the shore ; so I had nothing 
to do but to get out of the first current, and I should 
presently be in an eddy. 

I lay here, however, two days, because the wind blow- 
ing pretty fresh at E.S.E., and that being just contrary 
to the current, made a great breach of the sea upon the 
point; so that it was not safe for me to keep too close 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


179 

to the shore for the breach, nor to go too far off, because 
of the stream. 

The third day, in the morning, the wind having abated 
over night, the sea was calm, and I ventured. But I 
am a warning-piece to all rash and ignorant pilots; for 
no sooner was I come to the point, when I was not even 
my boat’s length from the shore, but I found myself 
in a great depth of water, and a current like the sluice 
of a mill. It carried my boat along with it with such 
violence that all I could do could not keep her so much 
as on the edge of it; but I found it hurried me farther 
and farther out from the eddy, which was on my left 
hand. There was no wind stirring to help me, and all 
that I could do with my paddles signified nothing. And 
now I began to give myself over for lost; for, as the 
current was on both sides of the island, I knew in a few 
leagues’ distance they must join again, and then I was 
irrecoverably gone. Nor did I see any possibility of 
avoiding it; so that I had no prospect before me but of 
perishing, not by the sea, for that was calm enough, 
but of starving from hunger. I had, indeed, found a 
tortoise on the shore, as big almost as I could lift, and 
had tossed it into the boat; and I had a great jar of 
fresh water, that is to say, one of my earthen pots; but 
what was all this to being driven into the vast ocean, 
where, to be sure, there was no shore, no mainland or 
island, for a thousand leagues at least? 

And now I saw how easy it was for the providence of 
God to make the most miserable condition that mankind 
could be in, worse. Now I looked back upon my deso- 
late, solitary island as the most pleasant place in the 


i8o 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


world, and all the happiness my heart could wish for 
was to be there again. I stretched out my hands to it, 
with eager wishes. “O happy desert!” said I, “I shall 
never see thee more. O miserable creature! Whither 
am I going?” Then I reproached myself with my 
unthankful temper, and how I had repined at my soli- 
tary condition; and now what would I give to be on 
shore there again! Thus we never see the true state of 
our condition till it is illustrated to us by its contraries, 
nor know how to value what we enjoy but by the want 
of it. It is scarcely possible to imagine the consternation 
I was now in, being driven from my beloved island (for 
so it appeared to me now to be) into the wide ocean, 
almost two leagues, and in the utmost despair of ever 
recovering it again. However, I worked hard till, 
indeed, my strength was almost exhausted, and kept my 
boat as much to the northward — that is, towards the 
side of the current which the eddy lay on — as possibly 
I could ; when about noon, as the sun passed the meridian, 
I thought I felt a little breeze of wind in my face, springing 
up from the S.S.E. This cheered my heart a little, and 
especially when, in about half an hour more, it blew a 
pretty small, gentle gale. By this time I had got at a 
frightful distance from the island; and had the least 
cloudy or hazy weather intervened I had been undone 
another way, too; for I had no compass on board, and 
should never have known how to have steered towards 
the island if I had but once lost sight of it. But the 
weather continuing clear, I applied myself to get up my 
mast again, and spread my sail, standing away to the 
north as much as possible, to get out of the current. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


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Just as I had set my mast and sail, and the boat 
began to stretch away, I saw even by the clearness of the 
water some alteration of the current was near; for where 
the current was so strong the water was foul; but per- 
ceiving the water clear, I found the current abate; and 
presently I found to the east, at about half a mile, a 
breach of the sea upon some rocks. These rocks I found 
caused the current to part again, and as the main stress 
of it ran away more southerly, leaving the rocks to the 
northeast, so the other returned by the repulse of the 
rock, and made a strong eddy, which ran back again to 
the northwest, with a very sharp stream. 

They who know what it is to have a reprieve brought 
to them upon the ladder, or to be rescued from thieves 
just going to murder them, or who have been in such 
extremities, may guess what my present surprise of joy 
was and how gladly I put my boat into the stream of 
this eddy; and the wind also freshening, how gladly I 
spread my sail to it, running cheerfully before the wind, 
and with a strong tide or eddy underfoot. 

This eddy carried me about a league in my way back 
again, directly towards the island, but about two leagues 
more towards the northward than the current lay which 
carried me away at first; so that when I came near the 
island I found myself open to the northern shore of it, 
that is to say, the other end of the island, opposite to 
that which I went out from. 

When I had made something more than a league of 
way by help of this current or eddy, I found it was spent, 
and saved me no farther. However, I found that being 
between two great currents, viz., that on the south side, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


182 

which had hurried me away, and that on the north, 
which lay about two leagues on the other side; I say, 
between these two, in the wake of the island, I found the 
water at least still, and running no way; and having 
still a breeze of wind fair for me, I keep on steering 
directly for the island, though not making such fresh 
way as I did before. 

About four o’clock in the evening, being then within 
about a league of the island, I found the point of the 
rocks which occasioned this disaster stretching out, as 
is described before, to the southward, and casting off 
the current more southerly, had, of course, made another 
eddy to the north; and this I found very strong, but 
directly setting the way my course lay, which was due 
west, but almost full north. However, having a fresh 
gale, I stretched across this eddy, slanting northwest; 
and in about an hour came within about a mile of the 
shore, where, it being smooth water, I soon got to land. 

When I was on shore I fell on my knees and gave God 
thanks for my deliverance, resolving to lay aside all 
thoughts of my deliverance by my boat; and refreshing 
myself with such things as I had, I brought my boat 
close to the shore, in a little cove that I had spied under 
some trees, and laid me down to sleep, being quite spent 
with the labor and fatigue of the voyage. 

I was now at a great loss which way to get home with 
my boat! I had run so much hazard, and knew too 
much of the case, to think of attempting it by the way 
I went out; and what might be at the other side (I mean 
the west side) I knew not, nor had I any mind to run any 
more ventures. So I resolved on the next morning to 


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make my way westward along the shore, and to see if 
there was no creek where I might lay up my frigate in 
safety so as to have her again if I wanted her. In about 
three miles, or thereabouts, coasting the shore, I came 
to a very good inlet or bay, about a mile over, which 
narrowed till it came to a very little rivulet or brook, 
where I found a very convenient harbor for my boat, 
and where she lay as if she had been in a little dock made 
on purpose for her. Here I put in, and having stowed 
my boat very safe, I went on shore to look about me, 
and see where I was. 

I soon found I had but a little passed by the place 
where I had been before, when I traveled on foot to that 
shore; so, taking nothing out of my boat but my gun 
and umbrella, for it was exceedingly hot, I began my 
march. The way was comfortable enough after such 
a voyage as I had been upon, and I reached my old bower 
in the evening, where I found everything standing as 
I left it; for I always kept it in good order, being as I 
said before, my country house. 

I got over the fence, and laid me down in the shade 
to rest my limbs, for I was very weary, and fell asleep. 
But judge you, if you can that read my story, what a 
surprise I must have been in when I was awaked out of 
my sleep by a voice, calling me by my name several times: 
“Robin, Robin, Robin Crusoe! poor Robin Crusoe! 
Where are you, Robin Crusoe? Where are you? Where 
have you been?” 

I was so dead asleep at first, being fatigued with 
rowing or paddling, as it is called, the first part of the 
day, and walking the latter part, that I did not awake 


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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


thoroughly; and dozing between sleeping and waking, 
thought I dreamed that somebody spoke to me; but as 
the voice continued to repeat, “Robin Crusoe! Robin 
Crusoe!” at last I began to awake more perfectly, and 
was at first dreadfully frightened, and started up in the 
utmost consternation. But no sooner were my eyes 
open, but I saw my Poll sitting on the top of the hedge, 
and immediately knew that it was he that spoke to me; 
for just in such a bemoaning language I had used to 
talk to him, and teach him; and he had learned it so 
perfectly that he would sit upon my finger, and lay his 
bill close to my face, and cry, “Poor Robin Crusoe! 
Where are you? Where have you been? How came 
you here?” and such things as I had taught him. 

However, even though I knew it was the parrot, and 
that indeed it could be nobody else, it was a good while 
before I could compose myself. First I was amazed how 
the creature got thither; and then, how he should just 
keep about the place, and nowhere else; but as I was 
well satisfied it could be nobody but honest Poll, I got 
over it; and holding out my hand, and calling him by 
his name, “Poll,” the sociable creature came to me, and 
sat upon my thumb, as he used to do, and continued 
talking to me, “ Poor Robin Crusoe? and how did I come 
here? and where had I been?” just as if he had been 
overjoyed to see me again; and so I carried him home 
along with me. 

I had now had enough of rambling to sea for some 
time, and had enough to do for many days to sit still 
and reflect upon the danger I had been in. I would 
have been very glad to have had my boat again on my 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


185 


side of the island ; but I knew not how it was practicable 
to get it about. As to the east side of the island, which 
I had gone round, I knew well enough there was no ven- 
turing that way; my very heart would shrink, and my 
very blood run chill, but to think of it; and as to the 
other side of the island, I did not know how it might be 
there. But supposing the current ran with the same 
force against the shore at the east as it passed by it on 
the other, I might run the same risk of being driven down 
the stream, and carried by the island, as I had been 
before of being carried away from it. So with these 
thoughts I contented myself to be without any boat, 
though it had been the product of so many months’ 
labor to make it, and of so many more to get it into 
the sea. 

In this government of my temper I remained near a 
year; lived a very sedate, retired life, as you may well 
suppose; and my thoughts being very much composed 
as to my condition, and fully comforted in resigning 
myself to the dispositions of Providence, I thought I 
lived really very happily in all things, except that of 
society. 

I improved myself in this time in all the mechanic 
exercises which my necessities put me upon applying 
myself to; and I believe I should, upon occasion, have 
made a very good carpenter, especially considering how 
few tools I had. 

Besides this, I arrived at an unexpected perfection 
in my earthenware, and contrived well enough to make 
them with a wheel, which I found infinitely easier and 
better; because I made things round and shaped, which 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


1 86 

before were filthy things indeed to look on. But I think 
I was never more vain of my own performance, or more 
joyful for anything I found out, than for my being able 
to make a tobacco pipe; and though it was a very ugly, 
clumsy thing when it was done, and only burnt red, like 
other earthenware, yet as it was hard and firm, and 
would draw the smoke, I was exceedingly comforted 
with it, for I had been always used to smoke; and there 
were pipes in the ship, but I forgot them at first, not 
thinking that there was tobacco in the island ; and after- 
wards, when I searched the ship again, I could not come 
at any pipes. 

In my wickerware also I improved much, and made 
abundance of necessary baskets, as well as my invention 
showed me. Though not very handsome, yet they were 
such as were very handy and convenient for laying things 
up in, or fetching things home. For example, if I killed 
a goat abroad, I could hang it up in a tree, flay it, and 
dress it, and cut it in pieces, and bring it home in a 
basket: and the like by a turtle; I could cut it up, take 
out the eggs and a piece or two of the flesh, which was 
enough for me, and bring them home in a basket, and 
leave the rest behind me. Also, large deep baskets 
were my receivers for my corn, which I always rubbed 
out as soon as it was dry, and cured ; and kept it in great 
baskets, instead of a granary. 

I began now to perceive my powder abated con- 
siderably; and this was a want which it was impossible 
for me to supply, and I began seriously to consider what 
I must do when I should have no more powder; that is 
to say, how I should do to kill any goats. I had, as I 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


187 


observed in the third day of my being here, kept a young 
kid, and bred her up tame. I was in hopes of getting a 
he-kid: but I could not by any means bring it to pass, 
till my kid grew to be an old goat; and as I could never 
find in my heart to kill her, she died at last of mere age. 

But being now in the eleventh year of my residence, 
and, as I have said, my ammunition growing low, I set 
myself to study some art to trap and snare the goats, 
to see whether I could not catch some of them alive; and 
particularly, I wanted a she-goat great with young. 
To this purpose I made snares to hamper them; and I 
believe they were more than once taken in them; but 
my tackle was not good, for I had no wire, and always 
found them broken, and my bait devoured. At length 
I resolved to try a pitfall: so I dug several large pits 
in the earth, in places where I had observed the goats 
used to feed, and over these pits I placed hurdles, of my 
own making too, with a great weight upon them; and 
several times I put ears of barley and dry rice, without 
setting the trap; and I could easily perceive that the 
goats had gone in and eaten up the corn, for I could see 
the marks of their feet. At length I set three traps in 
one night, and going the next morning I found them 
all standing, and yet the bait eaten and gone. This 
was very discouraging. However, I altered my traps; 
and, not to trouble you with particulars, going one 
morning to see my traps I found in one of them a large 
old he-goat; and in one of the others three kids, a male 
and two females. 

As to the old one, I knew not what to do with him. 
He was so fierce I durst not go into the pit to him ; that 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


188 

is to say, to go about to bring him away alive, which 
was what I wanted. I could have killed him, but that 
was not my business, nor would it answer my end; so 
I even let him out, and he ran away as if he had been 
frightened out of his wits. But I had forgot then what 
I learned afterwards, that hunger will tame a lion. If 
I had let him stay there three or four days without food, 
and then have carried him some water to drink, and 
then a little com, he would have been as tame as one 
of the kids; for they are mighty sagacious, tractable 
creatures, where they are well used. 

However, for the present I let him go, knowing no 
better at that time. Then I went to the three kids, and 
taking them one by one, I tied them with strings together, 
and with some difficulty brought them all home. 

It was a good while before they would feed; but 
throwing them some sweet com, it tempted them, and 
they began to be tame. And now I found that if I 
expected to supply myself with goat’s flesh, when I had 
no powder or shot left, breeding some up tame was my 
only way; when, perhaps, I might have them about 
my house like a flock of sheep. But, then, it occurred 
to me that I must keep the tame from the wild, or else 
they would always run wild when they grew up; and 
the only way for this was to have some inclosed piece 
of ground, well fenced either with hedge or pale, to keep 
them up so effectually that those within might not break 
out or those without break in. 

This was a great undertaking for one pair of hands; 
yet as I saw there was an absolute necessity for doing it, 
my first piece of work was to find out a proper piece of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


189 


ground; viz., where there was likely to be herbage for 
them to eat, water for them to drink, and cover to keep 
them from the sun. 

Those who understand such inclosures will think I 
had very little contrivance, when I pitched upon a 
place very proper for all these, being a plain, open piece 
of meadow land, or savanna (as our people call it in the 
western colonies), which had two or three little drills 
of fresh water in it, and at one end was very woody; 
I say, they will smile at my forecast, when I shall tell 
them I began by inclosing of this piece of ground in 
such a manner that my hedge or pale must have been at 
least two miles about. Nor was the madness of it so 
great as to the compass, for if it was ten miles about I 
was like to have time enough to do it in. But I did not 
consider that my goats would be as wild in so much 
compass as if they had had the whole island, and I should 
have so much room to chase them in that I should never 
catch them. 

My hedge was begun and carried on, I believe, about 
fifty yards, when this thought occurred to me; so I 
presently stopped short, and, for the first beginning, I 
resolved to inclose a piece of about one hundred and fifty 
yards in length, and one hundred yards in breadth, 
which as it would maintain as many as I should have in 
any reasonable time, so, as my flock increased, I could 
add more ground to my inclosure. 

This was acting with some prudence, and I went to 
work with courage. I was about three months hedging 
in the first piece; and till I had done it, I tethered the 
three kids in the best part of it, and used them to feed 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


190 

as near me as possible, to make them familiar; and very 
often I would go and carry them some ears of barley, 
or a handful of rice, and feed them out of my hand; so 
that, after my inclosure was finished, and I let them 
loose, they would follow me up and down, bleating after 
me for a handful of corn. 

This answered my end, and in about a year and a half 
I had a flock of about twelve goats, kids and all; and in 
two years more I had three-and-forty, besides several 
that I took and killed for my food; and after that, I 
inclosed five several pieces of ground to feed them in, 
with little pens to drive them into, to take them as I 
wanted them, and gates out of one piece of ground into 
another. 

But this was not all; for now I not only had goat’s 
flesh to feed on when I pleased, but milk too — a thing 
which indeed in my beginning I did not so much as think 
of, and which, when it came into my thoughts, was 
really an agreeable surprise; for now I set up my dairy, 
and had sometimes a gallon or two of milk in a day. 
And as Nature, who gives supplies of food to every 
creature, dictates even naturally how to make use of it, 
so I, that never milked a cow, much less a goat, or saw 
butter or cheese made, very readily and handily, though 
after a great many essays and miscarriages, made me 
both butter and cheese at last, and never wanted it 
afterwards. How mercifully can our Creator treat his 
creatures, even in those conditions in which they seemed 
to be overwhelmed in destruction! How can he sweeten 
the bitterest providences, and give us cause to praise 
him for dungeons and prisons! What a table was here 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


191 

spread for me in a wilderness, where I saw nothing at 
first but to perish for hunger. 

It would have made a stoic smile to have seen me 
and my little family sit down to dinner. There was my 
majesty, the prince and lord of the whole island; I had 
the lives of all my subjects at absolute command; I 
could hang, draw, give life and liberty and take it away, 
and no rebels among all my subjects. Then to see how 
like a king I dined too, all alone, attended by my ser- 
vants! Poll, as if he had been my favorite, was the 
only person permitted to talk to me; my dog, who was 
now grown very old and crazy, and had found no species 
to multiply his kind upon, sat always at my right hand ; 
and two cats, one on one side the table, and one on the 
other, expecting now and then a bit from my hand, as 
a mark of special favor. 

But these were not the two cats which I brought on 
shore at first, for they were both of them dead, and had 
been interred near my habitation by my own hand; but 
one of them having multiplied by I know not what kind 
of creature, these were two which I preserved tame; 
whereas the rest ran wild in the woods, and became indeed 
troublesome to me at last; for they would often come 
into my house, and plunder me too, till at last I was 
obliged to shoot them, and did kill a great many; at 
length they left me. With this attendance and in this 
plentiful manner I lived ; neither could I be said to want 
anything but society; and of that, in some time after 
this, I was likely to have too much. 

I was something impatient, as I have observed, to have 
the use of my boat, though very loath to run any more 


192 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


hazard; and therefore sometimes I sat contriving ways to 
get her about the island, and at other times I sat myself 
down contented enough without her. But I had a strange 
uneasiness in my mind to go down to the point of the 
island where, as I have said, in my last ramble I went up 
the hill to see how the shore lay, and how the current set, 
that I might see what I had to do. This inclination 
increased upon me every day, and at length I resolved to 
travel thither by land; and following the edge of the 
shore, I did so; but had any one in England met such a 
man as I was it must either have frighted them, or raised 
a great deal of laughter: and as I frequently stood still 
to look at myself, I could not but smile at the notion of 
my traveling through Yorkshire with such an equipage, 
and in such a dress. Be pleased to take a sketch of my 
figure, as follows: 

I had a great high shapeless cap, made of goat’s skin, 
with a flap hanging down behind, as well to keep the sun 
from me as to shoot the rain off from running into my 
neck; nothing being so hurtful in these climates as the 
rain upon the flesh under the clothes. 

I had a short jacket of goat’s skin, the skirts coming 
down to about the middle of the thighs, and a pair of open- 
kneed breeches of the same; the breeches were made of 
the skin of an old he-goat, whose hair hung down such a 
length on either side, that, like pantaloons, it reached to 
the middle of my legs. Stockings and shoes I had none, 
but had made me a pair of somethings, I scarce knew 
what to call them, like buskins, to flap over my legs, and 
lace on either side like spatterdashes, but of a most bar- 
barous shape, as indeed were all the rest of my clothes. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


193 


I had a broad belt of goat’s skin dried, which I 
drew together with two thongs of the same, instead of 
buckles; and in a kind of a frog on either side of this, 
instead of a sword and dagger, hung a little saw and a 
hatchet, one on one side, one on the other. I had another 
belt not so broad, and fastened in the same manner, 
which hung over my shoulder; and at the end of it, 
under my left arm, hung two pouches, both made of 
goat’s skin too, in one of which hung my powder, in the 
other my shot. At my back I carried my basket, on 
my shoulder my gun, and over my head a great clumsy, 
ugly, goatskin umbrella, but which, after all, was the 
most necessary thing I had about me next to my gun. 
As for my face, the color of it was really not so mulatto- 
like as one might expect from a man not at all careful 
of it, and living within nine or ten degrees of the equinox. 
My beard I had once suffered to grow till it was about a 
quarter of a yard long; but as I had both scissors and 
razors sufficient, I had cut it pretty short, except what 
grew on my upper lip, which I had trimmed in to a 
large pair of Mahometan whiskers, such as I had seen 
worn by some Turks at Sallee, for the Moors did not 
wear such, though the Turks did; of these moustachios, 
cxr whiskers, I will not say they were long enough to hang 
my hat upon them, but they were of a length and shape 
monstrous enough, and such as in England would have 
passed for frightful. 

But all this is by the bye; for, as to my figure, I had 
so few to observe me that it was of no manner of conse- 
quence, so I say no more to that part. In this kind of 
dress I went my new journey, and was out five or six 

13 


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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


days. I traveled first along the seashore, directly to the 
place where I first brought my boat to an anchor to get 
up upon the rocks ; and having no boat now to take care 
of, I went over the land a nearer way to the same height 
that I was upon before, when, looking forward to the point 
of the rock which lay out, and which I was obliged to 
double with my boat, as I said above, I was surprised to 
see the sea all smooth and quiet — no rippling, no 
motion, no current, any more there than in other places. 
I was at a strange loss to understand this, and resolved to 
spend some time in the observing it, to see if nothing from 
the sets of the tide had occasioned it ; but I was presently 
convinced how it was, viz., that the tide of ebb setting 
from the west, and joining with the current of waters from 
some great river on the shore, must be the occasion of this 
current; and that according as the wind blew more 
forcibly from the west or from the north, this current 
came near, or went farther from the shore; for, waiting 
thereabouts till evening, I went up to the rock again, and 
then the tide of ebb being made, I plainly saw the current 
again as before, only that it ran farther off, being near half 
a league from the shore, whereas in my case it set close 
upon the shore, and hurried me in my canoe along with it, 
which at another time it would not have done. 

This observation convinced me that I had nothing to 
do but to observe the ebbing and the flowing of the tide, 
and I might very easily bring my boat about the island 
again; but when I began to think about putting it in 
practice, I had such terror upon my spirits at the remem- 
brance of the danger I had been in, that I could not think 
of it again with any patience; but, on the contrary, I took 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


195 


up another resolution, which was more safe, though more 
laborious — and this was, that I would build, or rather 
make me another periagua or canoe ; and so have one for 
one side of the island, and one for the other. 

You are to understand that now I had, as I may call it, 
two plantations in the island; one my little fortification 
or tent, with the wall about it, under the rock, with the 
cave behind me, which by this time I had enlarged into 
several apartments, or caves, one within another. One of 
these, which was the driest and largest, and had a door 
out beyond my wall or fortification, that is to say, beyond 
where my wall joined to the rock, was all filled up with 
large earthen pots, of which I have given an account, and 
with fourteen or fifteen great baskets, which would hold 
five or six bushels each, where I laid up my stores of pro- 
vision, especially my corn, some in the ear, cut off short 
from the straw, and the other rubbed out with my hand. 

As for my wall, made, as before, with long stakes or 
piles, those piles grew all like trees, and were by this time 
grown so big, and spread so very much, that there was 
not the least appearance, to any one’s view, of any habi- 
tation behind them. 

Near this dwelling of mine, but a little farther within 
the land, and upon lower ground, lay my two pieces of 
corn land, which I kept duly cultivated and sowed, and 
which duly yielded me their harvest in its season; and 
whenever I had occasion for more corn, I had more land 
adjoining, as fit as that. 

Besides this, I had my country-seat, and I had now a 
tolerable plantation there also; for first, I had my little 
bower, as I called it, which I kept in repair — that is to 


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say, I kept the hedge, which circled it in, constantly fitted 
up to its usual height, the ladder standing always in the 
inside; I kept the trees, which at first were no more than 
my stakes, but were now grown very firm and tall, always 
so cut that they might spread and grow thick and wild, 
and make the more agreeable shade, which they did 
effectually to my mind. In the middle of this I had my 
tent always standing, being a piece of a sail spread over 
poles set up for that purpose, and which never wanted 
any repair or renewing ; and under this I had made me a 
squab or couch, with the skins of the creatures I had 
killed, and with other soft things, and a blanket laid on 
them, such as belonged to our sea-bedding, which I had 
saved; and a great watchcoat to cover me; and here, 
whenever I had occasion to be absent from my chief seat, 
I took up my country habitation. 

Adjoining to this I had my inclosures for my cattle, 
that is to say, my goats; and as I had taken an incon- 
ceivable deal of pains to fence and inclose this ground, I 
was so anxious to see it kept entire, lest the goats should 
break through, that I never left off till, with infinite labor, 
I had stuck the outside of the hedge so full of small stakes, 
and so near to one another, that it was rather a pale than 
a hedge, and there was scarce room to put a hand through 
between them; which afterwards, when those stakes 
grew, as they all did in the next rainy season, made the 
inclosure strong like a wall — indeed stronger than any 
wall. 

This will testify for me that I was not idle, and that I 
spared no pains to bring to pass whatever appeared neces- 
sary for my comfortable support; for I considered the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


/ 197 


keeping up a breed of tame creatures thus at my hand 
would be a living magazine of flesh, milk, butter, and 
cheese for me as long as I lived in this place, if it were to 
be forty years; and that keeping them in my reach 
depended entirely upon my perfecting my inclosures to 
such a degree that I might be sure of keeping them to- 
gether; which, by this method, indeed, I so effectually 
secured, that when these little stakes began to grow, I had 
planted them so very thick I was forced to pull some of 
them up again. 

In this place also I had my grapes growing, which I 
principally depended on for my winter store of raisins, and 
which I never failed to preserve very carefully, as the best 
and most agreeable dainty of my whole diet; and, indeed, 
they were not agreeable only, but physical, wholesome, 
nourishing, and refreshing to the last degree. 

As this was also halfway between my other habitation 
and the place where I had laid up my boat, I generally 
stayed and lay here on my way thither, for I used fre- 
quently to visit my boat; and I kept all things about, or 
belonging to her, in very good order. Sometimes I went 
out in her to divert myself, but no more hazardous 
voyages would I go, scarcely ever above a stone’s cast or 
two from the shore, I was so apprehensive of being 
hurried out of my knowledge again by the currents or 
winds, or any other accident. But now I come to a new 
scene of my life. 

It happened one day, about noon, going towards my 
boat, I was exceedingly surprised with the print of a 
man’s naked foot on the shore, which was very plain to be 
seen on the sand. I stood like one thunderstruck, or as if 


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I had seen an apparition. I listened, I looked round me, 
but I could hear nothing, nor see anything ; I went up to 
a rising ground, to look farther; I went up the shore, and 
down the shore, but it was all one : I could see no other 
impression but that one. I went to it again to see if there 
were any more, and to observe if it might not be my fancy ; 
but there was no room for that, for there was exactly the 
print of a foot — toes, heel, and every part of a foot. 
How it came thither I knew not, nor could in the least 
imagine. But after innumerable fluttering thoughts like 
a man perfectly confused and out of himself, I came home 
to my fortification, not feeling, as we say, the ground I 
went on, but terrified to the last degree, looking behind 
me at every two or three steps, mistaking every bush and 
tree, and fancying every stump at a distance to be a man. 
Nor is it possible to describe how many various shapes 
my affrighted imagination represented things to me in; 
how many wild ideas were formed every moment in my 
fancy, and what strange unaccountable whimseys came 
into my thoughts by the way. 

When I came to my castle (for so I think I called it 
ever after this), I fled into it like one pursued. Whether 
I went over by the ladder, as first contrived, or went in at 
the hole in the rock, which I called a door, I cannot 
remember ; for never frighted hare fled to cover, or fox to 
earth, with more terror of mind than I to this retreat. 

I had no sleep that night ; the farther I was from the 
occasion of my fright, the greater my apprehensions were, 
which is something contrary to the nature of such things, 
and especially to the usual practice of all creatures in fear; 
but I was so embarrassed with my own frightful ideas of 



I stood like one thunderstruck , or as if I had seen an apparition 



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the thing, that I formed nothing but dismal imaginations 
to myself, even though I was now a great way off it. 
Sometimes I fancied it must be the devil; and reason 
joined in with me upon this supposition. For how should 
any other thing in human shape come into the place? 
Where was the vessel that brought them? What marks 
were there of any other footsteps? And how was it pos- 
sible a man should come there? But then to think that 
Satan should take human shape upon him in such a place, 
there could be no manner of occasion for it, but to leave 
the print of his foot behind him, and that even for no pur- 
pose too, for he could not be sure I should see it — this 
was an amazement the other way. I considered that the 
devil might have found out abundance of other ways to 
have terrified me than this of the simple print of a foot; 
that as I lived quite on the other side of the island he 
would never have been so simple as to leave a mark in a 
place where it was ten thousand to one whether I should 
ever see it or not, and in the sand too, which the first 
surge of the sea, upon a high wind, would have defaced 
entirely. All this seemed inconsistent with the thing 
itself, and with all the notions we usually entertain of the 
subtlety of the devil. 

Abundance of such things as these assisted to argue 
me out of all apprehensions of its being the devil; and I 
presently concluded then, that it must be some more dan- 
gerous creature; viz., that it must be some of the savages 
of the mainland over against me, who had wandered out to 
sea in their canoes, and either driven by the currents or by 
contrary winds, had made the island, and had been on 
shore, but were gone away again to sea; being as loath, 


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perhaps, to have stayed in this desolate island as I would 
have been to have had them. 

While these reflections were rolling upon my mind, I 
was very thankful in my thought that I was so happy as 
not to be thereabouts at that time, or that they did not 
see my boat, by which they would have concluded that 
some inhabitants had been in the place, and perhaps have 
searched farther for me. Then terrible thoughts racked 
my imagination about their having found my boat, and 
that there were people here; and that, if so, I should cer- 
tainly have them come again in greater numbers, and 
devour me; that if it should happen that they should not 
find me, yet they would find my inclosure, destroy all my 
corn, and carry away all my flock of tame goats, and I 
should perish at last for mere want. 

Thus my fear banished all my religious hope; all that 
former confidence in God, which was founded upon such 
wonderful experience as I had had of his goodness, now 
vanished; as if he that had fed me by miracle hitherto, 
could not preserve by his power the provision which he 
had made for me by his goodness. I reproached myself 
with my laziness, that would not sow any more corn one 
year than would just serve me till the next season, as if no 
accident could intervene to prevent my enjoying the crop 
that was upon the ground; and this I thought so just a 
reproof that I resolved for the future to have two or three 
years’ corn beforehand, so that, whatever might come, I 
might not perish for want of bread. 

How strange a checkerwork of Providence is the life of 
man! And by what secret differing springs are the affec- 
tions hurried about, as differing circumstances present! 


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201 


To-day we love what to-morrow we hate; to-day we seek 
what to-morrow we shun; to-day we desire what to- 
morrow we fear, nay, even tremble at the apprehensions 
of. This was exemplified in me at this time in the most 
lively manner imaginable; for I, whose only affliction was 
that I seemed banished from human society, that I was 
alone, circumscribed by the boundless ocean, cut off from 
mankind, and condemned to what I call silent life; that 
I was as one whom Heaven thought not worthy to be 
numbered among the living, or to appear amongst the 
rest of his creatures; that to have seen one of my own 
species would have seemed to me a raising me from death 
to life, and the greatest blessing that Heaven itself, next 
to the supreme blessing of salvation, could bestow; I say, 
that I should now tremble at the very apprehensions of 
seeing a man, and was ready to sink into the ground at but 
the shadow or silent appearance of a man having set his 
foot on the island. 

Such is the uneven state of human life; and it afforded 
me a great many curious speculations afterwards, when I 
had a little recovered my first surprise. I considered that 
this was the station of life the infinitely wise and good 
providence of God had determined for me; that as I could 
not foresee what the end of Divine wisdom might be in 
all this, so I was not to dispute his sovereignty, who, as I 
was his creature, had an undoubted right by creation to 
govern and dispose of me absolutely as he thought fit; 
and who, as I was a creature who had offended him, had 
likewise a judicial right to condemn me to what punish- 
ment he thought fit; and that it was my part to submit 
to bear his indignation, because I had sinned against him. 


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I then reflected that God, who was not only righteous but 
omnipotent, as he had thought fit thus to punish and 
afflict me, so he was able to deliver me; that if he did not 
think fit to do it, it was my unquestioned duty to resign 
myself absolutely and entirely to his will; and, on the 
other hand, it was my duty also to hope in him, pray to 
him, and quietly to attend the dictates and directions of 
his daily providence. 

These thoughts took me up many hours, days, nay, I 
may say weeks and months; and one particular effect of 
my cogitations on this occasion I cannot omit; viz., one 
morning early, lying in my bed, and filled with thoughts 
about my danger from the appearance of savages, I found 
it discomposed me very much; upon which those words of 
the Scripture came into my thoughts : 4 4 Call upon me in 
the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt 
glorify me.” Upon this, rising cheerfully out of bed, my 
heart was not only comforted but I was guided and 
encouraged to pray earnestly to God for deliverance. 
When I had done praying, I took up my Bible, and open- 
ing it to read, the first words that presented to me were, 
“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall 
strengthen thy heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” It is 
impossible to express the comfort this gave me, and in 
return I thankfully laid down the book, and was no more 
sad; at least, not on that occasion. 

In the middle of these cogitations, apprehensions, and 
reflections, it came into my thoughts one day that all this 
might be a mere chimera of my own, and that this foot 
might be the print of my own foot, when I came on shore 
from my boat; this cheered me up a little, too, and I 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


203 


began to persuade myself it was all a delusion; that it 
was nothing else but my own foot; and why might I not 
come that way from the boat, as well as I was going that 
way to the boat? Again I considered also, that I could 
by no means tell for certain where I had trod, and where 
I had not ; and that if, at last, this was only the print of 
my own foot, I had played the part of those fools who try 
to make stories of specters and apparitions, and then are 
themselves frighted at them more than anybody else. 

Now I began to take courage, and to peep abroad 
again, for I had not stirred out of my castle for three days 
and nights, so that I began to starve for provision; for I 
had little or nothing within doors but some barley cakes 
and water. Then I knew that my goats wanted to be 
milked too, which usually was my evening diversion ; and 
the poor creatures were in great pain and inconvenience 
for want of it; and, indeed, it almost spoiled some of 
them, and almost dried up their milk. 

Heartening myself, therefore, with the belief that this 
was nothing but the print of one of my own feet, and so I 
might be truly said to start at my own shadow, I began to 
go abroad again, and went to my country-house to milk 
my flock; but to see with what fear I went forward, how 
often I looked behind me, how I was ready, every now 
and then, to lay down my basket and run for my life, it 
would have made any one have thought I was haunted 
with an evil conscience, or that I had been lately most 
terribly frighted; and so, indeed, I had. However, as I 
went down thus two or three days, and having seen 
nothing, I began to be a little bolder, and to think there 
was really nothing in it but my own imagination; but I 


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could not persuade myself fully of this till I should go 
down to the shore again, and see this print of a foot, and 
measure it by my own, and see if there was any simil- 
itude or fitness, that I might be assured it was my own 
foot. But when I came to the place — first, it appeared 
evident to me, that when I laid up my boat, I could 
not possibly be on shore anywhere thereabouts; secondly, 
when I came to measure the mark with my own foot, I 
found my foot not so large by a great deal. Both these 
things filled my head with new imaginations, and gave 
me the vapors again to the highest degree, so that I shook 
with cold like one in an ague. And I went home again, 
filled with the belief that some man or men had been on 
shore there; or, in short, that the island was inhabited, 
and I might be surprised before I was aware; and what 
course to take for my security I knew not. 

Oh, what ridiculous resolutions men take when pos- 
sessed with fear! It deprives them of the use of those 
means which reason offers for their relief. The first thing 
I proposed to myself was to throw down my inclosures, 
and turn all my tame cattle wild into the woods, that the 
enemy might not find them and then frequent the island 
in prospect of the same or the like booty; then the simple 
thing of digging up my two cornfields, that they might 
not find such a grain there, and still be prompted to fre- 
quent the island; then to demolish my bower and tent, 
that they might not see any vestiges of habitation, and be 
prompted to look farther, in order to find out the persons 
inhabiting. 

These were the subjects of the first night’s cogitations, 
after I was come home again, while the apprehensions 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


205 


which had so overrun my mind were fresh upon me, and 
my head was full of vapors as above. Thus, fear of 
danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger 
itself, when apparent to the eyes ; and we find the burden 
of anxiety greater, by much, than the evil which we are 
anxious about; but, which was worse than all this, I had 
not that relief in this trouble, from the resignation I used 
to practice, that I hoped to have. I looked, I thought, 
like Saul, who complained not only that the Philistines 
were upon him, but that God had forsaken him; for I 
did not now take due ways to compose my mind, by cry- 
ing to God in my distress, and resting upon his providence, 
as I had done before, for my defense and deliverance; 
which if I had done, I had at least been more cheerfully 
supported under this new surprise, and perhaps carried 
through it with more resolution. 

This confusion of my thoughts kept me waking all 
night; but in the morning I fell asleep; and having by 
the amusement of my mind been, as it were, tired, and my 
spirits exhausted, I slept very soundly, and awaked much 
better composed than I had ever been before. And now 
I began to think sedately; and, upon the utmost debate 
with myself, I concluded that this island (which was so 
exceeding pleasant, fruitful, and no farther from the 
mainland than as I had seen) was not so entirely aban- 
doned as I might imagine; that although there were no 
stated inhabitants who lived on the spot, yet that there 
might sometimes come boats off from the shore, which 
either with design, or perhaps never but when they were 
driven by cross winds, might come to this place; that I 
had lived here fifteen years now, and had not met with the 


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least shadow or figure of any people yet; and that, if at 
any time they should be driven here, it was probable they 
went away again as soon as ever they could, seeing they 
had never thought fit to fix here upon any occasion to this 
time; that the most I could suggest any danger from was, 
from any casual accidental landing of straggling people 
from the main, who, as it was likely, if they were driven 
hither, were here against their wills; so they made no 
stay here, but went off again, with all possible speed, 
seldom staying one night on shore, lest they should not 
have the help of the tides and daylight back again; and 
that, therefore, I had nothing to do but to consider of 
some safe retreat, in case I should see any savages land 
upon the spot. 

Now I began sorely to repent that I had dug my cave 
so large as to bring a door through again, which door, as 
I said, came out beyond where my fortification joined to 
the rock. Upon maturely considering this, therefore, I 
resolved to draw me a second fortification, in the same 
manner of a semicircle, at a distance from my wall, just 
where I had planted a double row of trees about twelve 
years before, of which I made mention; these trees having 
been planted so thick before, there wanted but few piles 
to be driven between them, that they should be thicker 
and stronger, and my wall would be soon finished. So 
that I had now a double wall; and my outer wall was 
thickened with pieces of timber, old cables, and every- 
thing I could think of to make it strong, having in it seven 
little holes, about as big as I might put my arm out at. 
In the inside of this I thickened my wall to about ten feet 
thick, continually bringing earth out of my cave, and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


207 


laying it at the foot of the wall, and walking upon it; and 
through the seven holes I contrived to plant the muskets, 
of which I took notice that I got seven on shore out of the 
ship; these, I say, I planted like my cannon, and fitted 
them into frames, that held them like a carriage, that so 
I could fire all the seven guns in two minutes’ time. This 
wall I was many a weary month in finishing, and yet 
never thought myself safe till it was done. 

When this was done, I stuck all the ground without my 
wall, for a great way every day, as full with stakes or 
sticks of the osier-like wood, which I found so apt to grow, 
as they could well stand ; inasmuch that I believe I might 
set in near twenty thousand of them, leaving a pretty 
large space between them and my wall, that I might have 
room to see an enemy, and they might have no shelter 
from the young trees, if they attempted to approach my 
outer wall. 

Thus, in two years’ time, I had a thick grove; and in 
five or six years’ time I had a wood before my dwelling 
grown so monstrous thick and strong that it was indeed 
perfectly impassable; and no man, of what kind soever, 
would ever imagine that there was anything beyond it, 
much less a habitation. As for the way which I proposed 
to myself to go in or out (for I left no avenue), it was by 
setting two ladders, one to a part of the rock which was 
low, and then broke in, and left room to place another 
ladder upon that; so when the two ladders were taken 
down, no man living could come down to me without mis- 
chiefing himself; and if they had come down, they were 
still on the outside of my outer wall. 

Thus I took all the measures human prudence could 


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suggest for my own preservation; and it will be seen, at 
length, that they were not altogether without just reason: 
though I foresaw nothing at that time more than my mere 
fear suggested to me. 

While this was doing, I was not altogether careless of 
my other affairs; for I had a great concern upon me for 
my little herd of goats; they were not only a present 
supply to me upon every occasion, and began to be suf- 
ficient for me, without the expense of powder and shot, 
but also abated the fatigue of my hunting after the wild 
ones ; and I was loath to lose the advantage of them, and 
to have them all to nurse up over again. 

For this purpose, after long consideration, I could 
think of but two ways to preserve them : one was to find 
another convenient place to dig a cave under ground, and 
to drive them into it every night; and the other was to 
inclose two or three little bits of land, remote from one 
another, and as much concealed as I could, where I might 
keep about half a dozen young goats in each place; so 
that if any disaster happened to the flock in general, I 
might be able to raise them again with a little trouble and 
time: and this, though it would require a good deal of 
time and labor, I thought was the most rational design. 

Accordingly, I spent some time to find out the most 
retired parts of the island ; and I pitched upon one which 
was as private indeed as my heart could wish; it was a 
little damp piece of ground, in the middle of the hollow 
and thick woods, where, as is observed, I almost lost 
myself once before, endeavoring to come back that way 
from the eastern part of the island. Here I found a clear 
piece of land, near three acres, so surrounded with woods 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


209 


that it was almost an inclosure by Nature; at least, it did 
not want near so much labor to make it so as the other 
pieces of ground I had worked so hard at. 

I immediately went to work with this piece of ground ; 
and, in less than a month’s time, I had so fenced it round 
that my flock, or herd, call it which you please, which 
were not so wild now as at first they might be supposed to 
be, were well enough secured in it. So, without any 
further delay, I removed ten she-goats and two he-goats 
to this piece; and, when they were there, I continued to 
perfect the fence, till I had made it as secure as the other ; 
which, however, I did at more leisure, and it took me up 
more time by a great deal. 

All this labor I was at the expense of, purely from my 
apprehensions on the account of the print of a man’s foot 
which I had seen: for, as yet, I had never seen any 
human creature come near the island; and I had now 
lived two years under this uneasiness, which, indeed, 
made my life much less comfortable than it was before, as 
may well be imagined by any who know what it is to live 
in the constant snare of the fear of man. And this I must 
observe, with grief, too, that the discomposure of my 
mind had too great impressions also upon the religious 
part of my thoughts; for the dread and terror of falling 
into the hands of savages and cannibals lay so upon my 
spirits that I seldom found myself in a due temper for 
application to my Maker; at least, not with the sedate 
calmness and resignation of soul which I was wont to do. 
I rather prayed to God as under great affliction and pres- 
sure of mind, surrounded with danger, and in expectation 
every night of being murdered and devoured before 


14 


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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


morning; and I must testify, from my experience, that a 
temper of peace, thankfulness, love and affection, is much 
the more proper frame for prayer than that of terror and 
discomposure; and that under the dread of mischief im- 
pending, a man is no more fit for a comforting performance 
of the duty of praying to God than he is for repentance on 
a sick bed; for these discomposures affect the mind as the 
others do the body: and the discomposure of the mind 
must necessarily be as great a disability as that of the 
body, and much greater, praying to God being properly a 
act of the mind, not of the body. 

But to go on : after I had thus secured one part of my 
little living stock, I went about the whole island, search- 
ing for another private place to make such another 
deposit; when, wandering more to the west point of the 
island than I had ever done yet, and looking out to sea, I 
thought I saw a boat upon the sea, at a great distance. I 
had found a perspective glass or two in one of the sea- 
men’s chests, which I saved out of our ship, but I had it 
not about me; and this was so remote that I could not tell 
what to make of it, though I looked at it till my eyes were 
not able to hold to look any longer: whether it was a 
boat or not, I do not know; but as I descended from the 
hill I could see no more of it, so I gave it over; only I 
resolved to go no more out without a perspective glass in 
my pocket. 

When I was come down the hill to the end of the island, 
where, indeed, I had never been before, I was presently 
convinced that the seeing the print of a man’s foot was 
not such a strange thing in the island as I imagined; and, 
but that it was a special providence that I was cast upon 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


21 1 


the side of the island where the savages never came, I 
should easily have known that nothing was more frequent 
than for the canoes from the main, when they happened 
to be a little too far out at sea, to shoot over to that side 
of the island for harbor: likewise, as they often met and 
fought in their canoes, the victors, having taken any 
prisoners, would bring them over to this shore, where, 
according to their dreadful customs, being all cannibals, 
they would kill and eat them; of which hereafter. 

When I was come down the hill to the shore, as I said 
above, being the S.W. point of the island, I was perfectly 
confounded and amazed; nor is it possible for me to 
express the horror of my mind, at seeing the shore spread 
with skulls, hands, feet, and other bones of human bodies; 
and particularly, I observed a place where there had been 
a fire made, and a circle dug in the earth, like a cockpit, 
where I supposed the savage wretches had sat down to 
their inhuman feastings upon the bodies of their fellow- 
creatures. 

I was so astonished with the sight of these things that 
I entertained no notions of any danger to myself from it 
for a long while. All my apprehensions were buried in the 
thoughts of such a pitch of inhuman, hellish brutality, and 
the horror of the degeneracy of human nature, which, 
though I had heard of often, yet I never had so near a 
view of before. In short, I turned away my face from 
the horrid spectacle; my stomach grew sick, and I was 
just at the point of fainting, when nature discharged the 
disorder from my stomach; and having vomited with 
uncommon violence, I was a little relieved, but could not 
bear to stay in the place a moment. So I got up the hill 


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again with all the speed I could, and walked on towards 
my own habitation. 

When I came a little out of that part of the island, I 
stood still awhile, as amazed, and then, recovering myself, 
I looked up with the utmost affection of my soul, and, 
with a flood of tears in my eyes, gave God thanks that had 
cast my first lot in a part of the world where I was dis- 
tinguished from such dreadful creatures as these; and 
that, though I had esteemed my present condition very 
miserable, had yet given me so many comforts in it that 
I had still more to give thanks for than to complain of: 
and this, above all, that I had, even in this miserable con- 
dition, been comforted with the knowledge of himself, 
and the hope of his blessing: which was a felicity more 
than sufficiently equivalent to all the misery which I had 
suffered, or could suffer. 

In this frame of thankfulness I went home to my 
castle, and began to be much easier now as to the safety 
of my circumstances than ever I was before. For I ob- 
served that these wretches never came to this island in 
search of what they could get; perhaps not seeking, not 
wanting, or not expecting, anything here; and having 
often, no doubt, been up in the covered, woody part of it, 
without finding anything to their purpose. I knew I had 
been here almost eighteen years, and never saw the least 
footsteps of human creature there before; and I might be 
eighteen years more as entirely concealed as I was now, if 
I did not discover myself to them, which I had no manner 
of occasion to do ; it being my only business to keep myself 
entirely concealed where I was, unless I found a better 
sort of creatures than cannibals to make myself known to. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


213 


Yet I entertained such an abhorrence of the savage 
wretches that I have been speaking of, and of the wretched 
inhuman custom of their devouring and eating one 
another up, that I continued pensive and sad, and kept 
close within my own circle for almost two years after this. 
When I say my own circle, I mean by it my three planta- 
tions, viz., my castle, my country-seat (which I called my 
bower), and my inclosure in the woods: nor did I look 
after this for any other use than as an inclosure for my 
goats; for the aversion which Nature gave me to these 
hellish wretches was such that I was as fearful of seeing 
them as of seeing the devil himself, nor did I so much as 
go to look after my boat in all this time, but began rather 
to think of making me another; for I could not think of 
ever making any more attempts to bring the other boat 
round the island to me, lest I should meet with some of 
those creatures at sea; in which case, if I had happened 
to have fallen into their hands, I knew what would have 
been my lot. 

Time, however, and the satisfaction I had that I was 
in no danger of being discovered by these people, began 
to wear off my uneasiness about them ; and I began to live 
just in the same composed manner as before, only with 
this difference, that I used more caution, and kept my 
eyes more about me than I did before, lest I should happen 
to be seen by any of them ; and particularly, I was more 
cautious in firing my gun, lest any of them, being on the 
island, should happen to hear it; and it was, therefore, a 
very good providence to me that I had furnished myself 
with a tame breed of goats, and that I had no need to 
hunt any more about the woods, or shoot at them ; and if 


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I did catch any of them after this, it was by traps and 
snares, as I had done before. So that for two years after 
this I believe I never fired my gun off once, though I never 
went out without it : and which was more, as I had saved 
three pistols out of the ship, I always carried them out 
with me, or at least two of them, sticking them in my 
goatskin belt. I likewise furbished up one of the great 
cutlasses that I had out of the ship, and made me a belt 
to put it on also; so that I was now a most formidable 
fellow to look at when I went abroad, if you add to the 
former description of myself the particular of two pistols 
and a great broadsword hanging at my side in a belt, but 
without a scabbard. 

Things going on thus, as I have said, for some time I 
seemed, excepting these cautions, to be reduced to my 
former calm, sedate way of living. All these things 
tended to show me, more and more, how far my condition 
was from being miserable, compared to some others ; nay, 
to many other particulars of life, which it might have 
pleased God to have made my lot. It put me upon 
reflecting how little repining there would be among man- 
kind at any condition of life if people would rather com- 
pare their condition with those that are worse, in order to 
be thankful, than be always comparing them with those 
which are better, to assist their murmurings and com- 
plainings. 

As in my present condition there were not really many 
things which I wanted, so, indeed, I thought that the 
frights I had been in about these savage wretches, and the 
concern I had been in for my own preservation, had taken 
off the edge of my invention for my own conveniences; 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


215 


and I had dropped a good design, which I had once bent 
my thoughts upon, and that was to try if I could not 
make some of my barley into malt, and then try to brew 
myself some beer. This was really a whimsical thought, 
and I reproved myself often for the simplicity of it: for I 
presently saw there would be the want of several things 
necessary to the making of beer, that it would be impos- 
sible for me to supply; as, first, casks to preserve it in, 
which was a thing that, as I have observed already, I could 
never compass; no, though I spent not many days, but 
weeks, nay months, in attempting it, but to no purpose. 
In the next place, I had no hops to make it keep, no yeast 
to make it work, no copper or kettle to make it boil; and 
yet had not all these things intervened — I mean, the 
frights and terrors I was in about the savages — I had 
undertaken it, and perhaps brought it to pass, too; for I 
seldom gave anything over without accomplishing it, 
when I once had it in my head enough to begin it. But 
my invention now ran quite another way; for, night and 
day, I could think of nothing but how I might destroy 
some of these monsters in their cruel, bloody entertain- 
ment; and, if possible, save the victim they should bring 
hither to destroy. It would take up a larger volume than 
this whole work is intended to be, to set down all the con- 
trivances I hatched, or rather brooded upon, in my 
thoughts, for the destroying these creatures, or at least 
frightening them so as to prevent their coming hither any 
more. But all was abortive; nothing could be possible 
to take effect, unless I was to be there to do it myself; 
and what could one man do among them, when perhaps 
there might be twenty or thirty of them together with 


216 


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their darts, or their bows and arrows, with which they 
could shoot as true to a mark as I could with my gun? 

Sometimes I thought of digging a hole under the place 
where they made their fire, and putting in five or six 
pounds of gunpowder, which, when they kindled their fire, 
would consequently take fire, and blow up all that was 
near it: but as, in the first place, I should be unwilling 
to waste so much powder upon them, my store being now 
within the quantity of one barrel, so neither could I be 
sure of its going off at any certain time, when it might 
surprise them and, at best, that it would do little more 
than just blow the fire about their ears and fright them, 
but not sufficient to make them forsake the place. So I 
laid it aside; and then proposed that I would place myself 
in ambush in some convenient place with my three guns 
all double loaded, and in the middle of their bloody cere- 
mony let fly at them, when I should be sure to kill or 
wound perhaps two or three at every shot; and then fall- 
ing in upon them with my three pistols and my sword, I 
made no doubt but that, if there were twenty, I should 
kill them all. This fancy pleased my thoughts for some 
weeks, and I was so full of it that I often dreamed of it, 
and sometimes, that I was just going to let fly at them in 
my sleep. I went so far with it in my imagination that I 
employed myself several days to find out proper places to 
put myself in ambuscade, as I said, to watch for them, 
and I went frequently to the place itself, which was now 
grown more familiar to me; but while my mind was thus 
filled with thoughts of revenge and of a bloody putting 
twenty or thirty of them to the sword, as I may call it, 
the horror I had at the place, and at the signs of the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


217 


barbarous wretches devouring one another, abetted my 
malice. Well, at length I found a place in the side of the 
hill where I was satisfied I might securely wait till I saw 
any of their boats coming; and might then, even before 
they would be ready to come on shore, convey myself 
unseen into some thickets of trees, in one of which there 
was a hollow large enough to conceal me entirely; and 
there I might sit and observe all their bloody doings, and 
take my full aim at their heads when they were so close 
together as that it would be next to impossible that I 
should miss my shot, or that I could fail wounding three 
or four of them at the first shot. In this place, then, I 
resolved to fix my design; and accordingly, I prepared two 
muskets and my ordinary fowling piece. The two mus- 
kets I loaded with a brace of slugs each, and four or five 
smaller bullets, about the size of pistol bullets; and the 
fowling piece I loaded with near a handful of swan shot of 
the largest size. I also loaded my pistols with about four 
bullets each; and in this posture, well provided with 
ammunition for a second and third charge, I prepared 
myself for my expedition. 

After I had thus laid the scheme of my design, and in 
my imagination put it in practice, I continually made 
my tour every morning to the top of the hill, which was 
from my castle, as I called it, about three miles or more, 
to see if I could observe any boats upon the sea, coming 
near the island, or standing over towards it; but I began 
to tire of this hard duty after I had for two or three 
months constantly kept my watch but came always back 
without any discovery; there having not, in all that time, 
been the least appearance, not only on or near the shore, 


2l8 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


but on the whole ocean, as far as my eyes or glass could 
reach every way. 

As long as I kept my daily tour to the hill to look out, 
so long also I kept up the vigor of my design, and my spirits 
seemed to be all the while in a suitable frame for so out- 
rageous an execution as the killing twenty or thirty naked 
savages for an offense which I had not at all entered into 
a discussion of in my thoughts, any farther than my pas- 
sions were at first fired by the horror I conceived at the 
unnatural custom of the people of that country; who, it 
seems, had been suffered by Providence, in his wise dis- 
position of the world, to have no other guide than that of 
their own abominable and vitiated passions; and, conse- 
quently, were left, and perhaps had been so for some ages, 
to act such horrid things, and receive such dreadful 
customs, as nothing but Nature, entirely abandoned by 
Heaven, and actuated by some hellish degeneracy, could 
have run them into. But now, when, as I have said, I 
began to be weary of the fruitless excursion which I had 
made so long and so far every morning in vain, so my 
opinion of the action itself began to alter; and I began, 
with cooler and calmer thoughts, to consider what I was 
going to engage in; what authority or call I had to pretend 
to be judge and executioner upon these men as criminals, 
whom Heaven had thought fit, for so many ages, to suffer, 
unpunished, to go on, and to be, as it were, the execution- 
ers of his judgments, one upon another; how far these 
people were offenders against me, and what right I had to 
engage in the quarrel of that blood which they shed 
promiscuously upon one another. I debated this very 
often with myself thus: “How do I know what God 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


219 


himself judges in this particular case? It is certain these 
people do not commit this as a crime; it is not against 
their own conscience reproving, or their light reproach- 
ing them; they do not know it to be an offense, and 
then commit it in defiance of Divine justice, as we do 
in almost all the sins we commit. They think it no 
more a crime to kill a captive taken in war than we 
do to kill an ox; or to eat human flesh than we do 
to eat mutton.” 

When I considered this a little, it followed necessarily 
that I was certainly in the wrong in it; that these people 
were not murderers, in the sense that I had before con- 
demned them in my thoughts, any more than those 
Christians were murderers who often put to death the 
prisoners taken in battle ; or more frequently, upon many 
occasions, put whole troops of men to the sword, without 
giving quarter, though they threw down their arms and 
submitted. In the next place, it occurred to me that 
albeit the usage they gave one another was thus brutish 
and inhuman, yet it was really nothing to me. These 
people had done me no injury ; that if they attempted me, 
or I saw it necessary, for my immediate preservation, to 
fall upon them, something might be said for it: but that 
I was yet out of their power, and they really had no 
knowledge of me, and consequently no design upon me; 
and, therefore, it could not be just for me to fall upon 
them. That this would justify the conduct of the 
Spaniards in all their barbarities practiced in America, 
where they destroyed millions of these people; who, how- 
ever they were idolators and barbarians, and had several 
bloody and barbarous rites in their customs, such as 


220 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


sacrificing human bodies to their idols, were yet, as to the 
Spaniards, very innocent people; and that the rooting 
them out of the country is spoken of with the utmost 
abhorrence and detestation by even the Spaniards them- 
selves, at this time, and by all other Christian nations in 
Europe, as a mere butchery, a bloody and unnatural piece 
of cruelty, unjustifiable either to God or man; and such 
as for which the very name of a Spaniard is reckoned to 
be frightful and terrible to all people of humanity or of 
Christian compassion, as if the kingdom of Spain were 
particularly eminent for the product of a race of men who 
were without principles of tenderness, or the common 
bowels of pity to the miserable, which is reckoned to be a 
mark of a generous temper in the mind. 

These considerations really put me to a pause, and to 
a kind of a full stop. And I began, by little and little, to 
be off my design, and to conclude I had taken wrong 
measures in my resolution to attack the savages; and 
that it was not my business to meddle with them, unless 
they first attacked me. And this it was my business, if 
possible, to prevent; but that, if I were discovered and 
attacked by them, then I knew my duty. On the other 
hand, I argued with myself that this really was the way 
not to deliver myself, but entirely to ruin and destroy 
myself. For unless I was sure to kill every one that not 
only should be on shore at that time but that should ever 
come on shore afterwards, if but one of them escaped to 
tell their country people what had happened they would 
come over again by thousands to revenge the death of 
their fellows, and I should only bring upon myself a cer- 
tain destruction, which at present I had no manner of 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


221 


occasion for. Upon the whole, I concluded that I ought, 
neither in principle nor in policy, one way or other, to 
concern myself in this affair; that my business was, by 
all possible means, to conceal myself from them, and not 
to leave the least sign for them to guess by that there 
were any living creatures upon the island — I mean of 
human shape. Religion joined in with this prudential 
resolution; and I was convinced now, many ways, that I 
was perfectly out of my duty when I was laying all my 
bloody schemes for the destruction of innocent creatures 
— I mean innocent as to me. As to the crimes they were 
guilty of towards one another, I had nothing to do with 
them; these were national punishments, to make a just 
retribution for national offenses, and to bring public 
judgment upon those who offend in a public manner, by 
such ways as best please God. This appeared so clear to 
me now that nothing was a greater satisfaction to me 
than that I had not been suffered to do a thing which I 
now saw so much reason to believe would have been no 
less a sin than that of willful murder, if I had committed 
it. And I gave most humble thanks, on my knees, to 
God, that he had thus delivered me from blood-guiltiness, 
beseeching him to grant me the protection of his provi- 
dence, that I might not fall into the hands of the bar- 
barians, or that I might not lay my hands upon them, 
unless I had a more clear call from Heaven to do it, in 
defense of my own life. 

In this disposition I continued for near a year after 
this ; and so far was I from desiring an occasion for falling 
upon these wretches, that in all that time I never once 
went up the hill to see whether there were any of them in 


222 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


sight, or to know whether any of them had been on shore 
there or not, that I might not be tempted to renew any of 
my contrivances against them, or be provoked by any 
advantage that might present itself, to fall upon them. 
Only this I did; I went and removed my boat, which I 
had on the other side of the island, and carried it down to 
the east end of the whole island, where I ran it into a little 
cove, which I found under some high rocks, and where I 
I knew, by reason of the currents, the savages durst not, 
at least would not, come with their boats upon any 
account whatever. With my boat I carried away every- 
thing that I had left there belonging to her, though not 
necessary for the bare going thither, viz., a mast and sail 
which I had made for her, and a thing like an anchor, but 
which indeed could not be called either anchor or grapnel. 
However, it was the best I could make of its kind. All 
these I removed, that there might not be the least shadow 
for discovery, or any appearance of any boat, or of any 
habitation upon the island. Besides this, I kept myself, 
as I said, more retired than ever, and seldom went from 
my cell, except upon my constant employment, viz., to 
milk my she-goats and manage my little flock in the 
wood, which, as it was quite on the other part of the 
island, was out of danger; for certain it is that these 
savage people, who sometimes haunted this island, never 
came with any thoughts of finding anything here, and 
consequently never wandered off from the coast, and I 
doubt not but they might have been several times on 
shore after my apprehensions of them had made me cau- 
tious, as well as before. Indeed, I looked back with 
some horror upon the thoughts of what my condition 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


223 


would have been if I had chopped upon them and been 
discovered before that; when, naked, and unarmed, 
except with one gun, and that loaded often only with 
small shot, I walked everywhere, peeping and peering 
about the island to see what I could get. What a surprise 
should I have been in, if, when I discovered the print of a 
man’s foot, I had instead of that seen fifteen or twenty 
savages, and found them pursuing me, and by the swift- 
ness of their running, no possibility of my escaping them ! 
The thoughts of this sometimes sunk my very soul within 
me, and distressed my mind so much that I could not 
soon recover it, to think what I should have done, and 
how I should not only have been unable to resist them, 
but even should not have had presence of mind enough to 
do what I might have done; much less what now, after so 
much consideration and preparation, I might be able to 
do. Indeed, after serious thinking of these things I 
would be very melancholy, and sometimes it would last a 
great while. But I resolved it all, at last, into thankful- 
ness to that Providence which had delivered me from so 
many unseen dangers, and had kept me from those mis- 
chiefs which I could have no way been the agent in 
delivering myself from, because I had not the least notion 
of any such thing depending, or the least supposition of 
of its being possible. 

This renewed a contemplation which often had come 
into my thoughts in former times, when first I began to 
see the merciful dispositions of Heaven in the dangers we 
run through in this life; how wonderfully we are delivered 
when we know nothing of it; how, when we are in a 
quandary (as we call it), a doubt or hesitation whether to 


224 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


go this way or that way, a secret hint shall direct us this 
way when we intended to go that way: nay, when sense, 
our own inclination, and perhaps business, has called us 
to go the other way, yet a strange impression upon the 
mind, from we know not what springs, and by we know 
not what power, shall overrule us to go this way; and it 
shall afterwards appear that had we gone that way which 
we should have gone, and even to our imagination ought 
to have gone, we should have been ruined and lost. 
Upon these, and many like reflections, I afterwards made 
it a certain rule with me, that whenever I found those 
secret hints or pressings of mind, to doing or not doing 
anything that presented, or going this way or that way, I 
never failed to obey the secret dictate; though I knew no 
other reason for it than that such a pressure, or such a 
hint, hung upon my mind. I could give many examples 
of the success of this conduct in the course of my life, but 
more especially in the latter part of my inhabiting this 
unhappy island; besides many occasions which it is very 
likely I might have taken notice of if I had seen with the 
same eyes then that I see with now. But it is never too 
late to be wise; and I cannot but advise all considering 
men, whose lives are attended with such extraordinary 
incidents as mine, or even though not so extraordinary, 
not to slight such secret intimations of Providence, let 
them come from what invisible intelligence they will. 
That I shall not discuss, and perhaps cannot account for; 
but certainly they are a proof of the converse of spirits, 
and a secret communication between those embodied and 
those unembodied, and such a proof as can never be with- 
stood; of which I shall have occasion to give some very 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


225 


remarkable instances in the remainder of my solitary 
residence in this dismal place. 

I believe the reader of this will not think it strange if 
I confess that these anxieties, these constant dangers I 
lived in, and the concern that was now upon me, put an 
end to all invention, and to all the contrivances that I had 
laid for my future accommodations and conveniences. I 
had the care of my safety more now on hand than that 
of my food. I cared not to drive a nail, or chop a stick 
of wood now, for fear the noise I should make should be 
heard ; much less would I fire a gun for the same reason ; 
and, above all, I was tolerably uneasy at making any fire, 
lest the smoke, which is visible at a great distance in the 
day, should betray me. For this reason, I removed that 
part of my business which required fire, such as burning 
of pots and pipes, etc., into my new apartment in the 
woods, where, after I had been some time, I found, to 
my unspeakable consolation, a mere natural cave in the 
earth, which went in a vast way, and where, I dare say, 
no savage, had he been at the mouth of it, would be so 
hardy as to venture in ; nor, indeed, would any man else, 
but one who, like me, wanted nothing so much as a safe 
retreat. 

The mouth of this hollow was at the bottom of a great 
rock, where, by mere accident (I would say, if I did not 
see abundant reason to ascribe all such things now to 
Providence), I was cutting down some thick branches of 
trees to make charcoal ; and before I go on I must observe 
the reason of my making this charcoal, which was thus: 
I was afraid of making a smoke about my habitation, as 
I said before; and yet I could not live there without 
15 


226 


ROBINSON' CRUSOE 


baking my bread, cooking my meat, etc. ; so I contrived 
to bum some wood here, as I had seen done in England, 
under turf, till it became chark, or dry coal; and then 
putting the fire out, I preserved the coal to carry home 
and perform the other services for which fire was wanting, 
without danger of smoke. But this is be the bye. 
While I was cutting down some wood here, I perceived 
that, behind a very thick branch of low brushwood or 
underwood, there was kind of hollow place: I was 
curious to look in it; and getting with difficulty into the 
mouth of it, I found it was pretty large, that is to say, 
sufficient for me to stand upright in it, and perhaps 
another with me: but I must confess to you that I made 
more haste out than I did in, when, looking farther into 
the place, and which was perfectly dark, I saw two broad 
shining eyes of some creature — whether devil or man I 
knew not— which twinkled like two stars; the dim light 
from the cave’s mouth shining directly in, and making the 
reflection. However, after some pause I recovered my- 
self, and began to call myself a thousand fools and to 
think that he that was afraid to see the devil was not fit 
to live twenty years in an island all alone; and that I 
might well think there was nothing in this cave that was 
more frightful than myself. Upon this, plucking up my 
courage, I took up a firebrand, and in I rushed again, 
with the stick flaming in my hand. I had not gone three 
steps in, before I was almost as much frightened as before; 
for I heard a very loud sigh, like that of a man in some 
pain, and it was followed by a broken noise, as of words 
half expressed, and then a deep sigh again. I stepped 
back, and was indeed struck with such a surprise that it 



I must confess to you that I made more haste out than I did in 








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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


227 


put me into a cold sweat, and if I had had a hat on my 
head I will not answer for it that my hair might not have 
lifted it off. But still plucking up my spirits as well as I 
could, and encouraging myself a little with considering 
that the power and presence of God was everywhere, and 
was able to protect me, I stepped forward again, and by 
the dim light of the firebrand, holding it up a little over 
my head, I saw lying on the ground a monstrous, frightful 
old he-goat, just making his will, as we say, and gasping 
for life, and dying indeed of mere old age. I stirred him 
a little to see if I could get him out, and he essayed to get 
up, but was not able to raise himself; and I thought with 
myself he might even lie there; for if he had frightened 
me, so he would certainly fright any of the savages, if 
any one of them should be so hardy as to come in there 
while he had any life in him. 

I was now recovered from my surprise, and began to 
look round me, when I found the cave was but very 
small — that is to say, it might be about twelve feet over, 
but in no manner of shape, neither round nor square, no 
hands having ever been employed in making it but those 
of mere Nature. I observed also that there was a place at 
the farther side of it that went in farther, but was so low 
that it required me to creep upon my hands and knees to 
go into it, and whither it went I knew not; so, having no 
candle, I gave it over for that time, but resolved to come 
again the next day provided with candles and a tinder- 
box, which I had made of the lock of one of the muskets, 
with some wildfire in the pan. 

Accordingly, the next day I came provided with six 
large Candles of my own making (for I made very good 


228 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


candles now of goats’ tallow, but was hard set for candle- 
wick, using sometimes rags or rope-yarn, and sometimes 
the dried rind of a weed like nettles) ; and going into this 
low place I was obliged to creep upon all-fours, as I have 
said, almost ten yards — which, by the way, I thought 
was a venture bold enough, considering that I knew not 
how far it might go, nor what was beyond it. When I 
had got through the strait, I found the roof rose higher up, 
I believe near twenty feet ; but never was such a glorious 
sight seen in the island, I dare say, as it was to look round 
the sides and roof of this vault or cave ; the wall reflected 
a hundred thousand lights to me from my two candles. 
What it was in the rock — whether diamonds, or any 
other precious stones, or gold— which I rather supposed 
it to be — I knew not. The place I was in was a most 
delightful cavity, or grotto, though perfectly dark; the 
floor was dry and level, and had a sort of a small loose 
gravel upon it, so that there was no nauseous or venomous 
creature to be seen, neither was there any damp or wet on 
the sides or roof ; the only difficulty in it was the entrance 
— which, however, as it was a place of security, and such 
a retreat as I wanted, I thought was a convenience — so 
that I was really rejoiced at the discovery, and resolved, 
without any delay, to bring some of those things which I 
was most anxious about to this place! Particularly, I 
resolved to bring hither my magazine of powder, and all 
my spare arms; viz., two fowling pieces — for I had three 
in all — and three muskets — for of them I had eight in 
all; so I kept in my castle only five, which stood ready 
mounted like pieces of cannon on my outmost defense, and 
were ready also to take out upon any expedition. Upon 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


229 


this occasion of removing my ammunition, I happened to 
open the barrel of powder which I took up out of the sea, 
and which had been wet, and I found that the water had 
penetrated about three or four inches into the powder on 
every side, which caking and growing hard, had preserved 
the inside like a kernel in the shell, so that I had near sixty 
pounds of very good powder in the center of the cask; 
and this was a very agreeable discovery to me at that 
time. So I carried all away thither, never keeping above 
two or three pounds of powder with me in my castle, for 
fear of a surprise of any kind; I also carried thither all the 
lead I had left for bullets. 

I fancied myself now like one of the ancient giants 
who were said to live in caves and holes in the rocks, where 
none could come at them ; for I persuaded myself, while I 
was here, that if five hundred savages were to hunt me, 
they could never find me out — or if they did, they would 
not venture to attack me here. The old goat whom I 
found expiring died in the mouth of the cave the next day 
after I made this discovery; and I found it much easier to 
dig a great hole there, and throw him in and cover him 
with earth, than to drag him out; so I interred him there, 
to prevent offense to my nose. 

I was now in the twenty-third year of residence in this 
island, and was so naturalized to the place and the manner 
of living, that, could I but have enjoyed the certainty 
that no savages would come to the place to disturb me, I 
could have been content to have capitulated for spending 
the rest of my time there, even to the last moment, till I 
had laid me down and died, like the old goat in the cave. I 
had also arrived to some little diversions and amusements, 


230 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


which made the time pass more pleasantly with me a 
great deal than it did before; first, I had taught my Poll, 
as I noted before, to speak; and he did it so familiarly, 
and talked so articulately and plain, that it was very 
pleasant to me, and he lived with me no less than six-and- 
twenty years. How long he might have lived afterwards, 
I know not, though I know they have a notion in the 
Brazils that they live a hundred years. Perhaps some of 
my Polls may be alive there still, calling after poor 
Robinson Crusoe to this day; I wish no Englishman the 
ill-luck to come there and hear them; but if he did he 
would certainly believe it was the devil. My dog was a 
pleasant and loving companion to me for no less than six- 
teen years of my time, and then died of mere old age. As 
for my cats, they multiplied, as I have observed, to that 
degree that I was obliged to shoot several of them at first, 
to keep them from devouring me and all I had; but, at 
length, when the old ones I brought with me were gone, 
and after some time continually driving them from me, 
and letting them have no provision with me, they all ran 
wild into the woods, except two or three favorites, which 
I kept tame, and whose young, when they had any, I 
always drowned; and these were part of my family. 
Besides these I always kept two or three household kids 
about me whom I taught to feed out of my hand; and I 
had two more parrots, which talked pretty well, and 
would all call “Robin Crusoe,” but none like my first; 
nor, indeed, did I take the pains with any of them that I 
had done with him. I had also several tame sea-fowls, 
whose name I knew not, that I caught upon the shore, 
and cut their wings; and the little stakes which I had 


Robinson crusoe 


231 


planted before my castle wall being now grown up to a 
good thick grove, these fowls all lived among these low 
trees, and bred there, which was very agreeable to me; so 
that, as I said above, I began to be very well contented 
with the life I led, if I could have been secured from the 
dread of the savages. But it was otherwise directed ; and 
it may not be amiss for all people who shall meet with my 
story to make this just observation from it; viz., how 
frequently, in the course of our lives, the evil which in 
itself we seek most to shun, and which, when we are 
fallen into, is the most dreadful to us, is oftentimes the 
very means or door of our deliverance, by which alone we 
can be raised again from the affliction we are fallen into. 
I could give many examples of this in the course of my 
unaccountable life, but in nothing was it more particu- 
larly remarkable than in the circumstances of my last 
years of solitary residence in this island. 

It was now the month of December, as I said above, in 
my twenty- third year; and this, being the southern sol- 
stice (for winter I cannot call it), was the particular time 
of my harvest, and required me to be pretty much abroad 
in the fields, when, going out pretty early in the morning, 
even before it was thorough daylight, I was surprised with 
seeing a light of some fire upon the shore, at a distance 
from me of about two miles towards the end of the island 
where I had observed some savages had been, as before, 
and not on the other side, but, to my great affliction, it 
was on my side of the island. 

I was indeed terribly surprised at the sight, and 
stopped short within my grove, not daring to go out, lest 
I might be surprised ; and yet I had no more peace within, 


232 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


from the apprehensions I had that if these savages, in 
rambling over the island, should find my com standing or 
cut, or any of my works and improvements, they would 
immediately conclude that there were people in the place, 
and would then never rest till they had found me out. 
In this extremity I went back directly to my castle, pulled 
up the ladder after me, having made all things without 
look as wild and natural as I could. 

Then I prepared myself within, putting myself in a 
posture of defense; I loaded all my cannon, as I called 
them — that is to say, my muskets, which were mounted 
upon my new fortification, and all my pistols, and resolved 
to defend myself to the last gasp — not forgetting seriously 
to commend myself to the Divine protection, and ear- 
nestly to pray to God to deliver me out of the hands of 
the barbarians. And in this posture I continued about 
two hours, and began to be impatient for intelligence 
abroad, for I had no spies to send out. After sitting a 
while longer and musing what I should do in this case, I 
was not able to bear sitting in ignorance any longer; so 
setting up my ladder to the side of the hill, where there 
was a flat place, as I observed before, and then pulling 
the ladder after me, I set it up again, and mounted to the 
top of the hill, and pulling out my perspective-glass, 
which I had taken on purpose, I laid me down flat on my 
belly on the ground, and began to look for the place. I 
presently found there were no less than nine naked sav- 
ages sitting round a small fire they had made, not to warm 
them, for they had no need of that, the weather being 
extremely hot, but, as I supposed, to dress some of their 
barbarous diet of human flesh which they had brought 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


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with them, whether alive or dead I could not know. 

They had two canoes with them, which they had 
hauled up upon the shore; and as it was then ebb of tide, 
they seemed to me to wait the return of the flood to go 
away again. It is not easy to imagine what confusion 
this sight put me into, especially seeing them come on my 
side of the island, and so near me, too ; but when I con- 
sidered their coming must be always with the current of 
the ebb, I began afterwards to be more sedate in my mind, 
being satisfied that I might go abroad with safety all the 
time of the flood of tide, if they were not on shore before; 
and having made this observation, I went abroad about 
my harvest work with the more composure. 

As I expected, so it proved; for, as soon as the tide 
made to the westward I saw them all take boat and row 
(or paddle, as we call it) away. I should have observed 
that for an hour or more before they went off they were 
dancing, and I could easily discern their postures and 
gestures by my glass. I could not perceive, by my 
nicest observation, but that they were stark naked, and 
had not the least covering upon them; but whether they 
were men or women I could not distinguish. 

As soon as I saw them shipped and gone, I took two 
guns upon my shoulders, and two pistols in my girdle, 
and my great sword by my side, without a scabbard, and 
with all the speed I was able to make went away to the 
hill where I had discovered the first appearance of all; 
and as soon as I got thither, which was not less than two 
hours (for I could not go apace, being so loaded with arms 
as I was), I perceived there had been three canoes more 
of savages at that place; and, looking out farther I saw 


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they were all at sea together, making over for the main. 
This was a dreadful sight to me, especially when, going 
down to the shore, I could see the marks of horror which 
the dismal work they had been about had left behind it, 
viz., the blood, the bones, and part of the flesh of human 
bodies eaten and devoured by those wretches with merri- 
ment and sport. I was so filled with indignation at the 
sight that I now began to premeditate the destruction of 
the next that I saw there, let them be whom or how many 
soever. It seemed evident to me that the visits which 
they made thus to this island were not very frequent, for 
it was above fifteen months before any more of them 
came on shore there again — that is to say, I neither saw 
them nor any footsteps or signs of them in all that time ; 
for as to the rainy seasons, then they are sure not to come 
abroad, at least not so far. Yet all this while I lived un- 
comfortably, by reason of constant apprehension of their 
coming upon me by surprise — from whence I observe 
that the expectation of evil is more bitter than the suffer- 
ing, especially if there is no room to shake off that 
expectation or those apprehensions. 

During all this time I was in the murdering humor, 
and spent most of my hours, which should have been 
better employed, in contriving how to circumvent and fall 
upon them the very next time I should see them — 
especially if they should be divided, as they were the last 
time, into two parties; nor did I consider at all that if I 
killed one party — suppose ten or a dozen — I was still 
the next day, or week, or month, to kill another, and so 
another, even ad infinitum, till I should be, at length, no 
less a murderer than they were in being maneaters — and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 235 

perhaps much more spt I spent my days now in great 
perplexity and anxiety of mind, expecting that I should 
one day or other fall into the hands of these merciless 
creatures; and if I did at any time venture abroad it was 
not without looking around me with the greatest care and 
caution imaginable. And now I found, to my great com- 
fort, how happy it was that I had provided a tame flock, 
or herd, of goats; for I durst not upon any account fire 
my gun, especially near that side of the island where they 
usually came, lest I should alarm the savages ; and if they 
had fled from me now, I was sure to have them come again 
with perhaps two or three hundred canoes with them in a 
few days, and then I knew what to expect. However, I 
wore out a year and three months more before I ever saw 
any more of the savages, and then I found them again, as 
I shall soon observe. It is true they might have been 
there once or twice, but either they made no stay, or at 
least I did not hear them; but, in the month of May, as 
near as I could calculate, and in my four-and-twentieth 
year, I had a very strange encounter with them; of which 
in its place. 

The perturbation of my mind during this fifteen or 
sixteen months’ interval, was very great. I slept un- 
quietly, dreamed always frightful dreams, and often 
started out of my sleep in the night. In the day great 
troubles overwhelmed my mind; and in the night I 
dreamed often of killing the savages, and of the reasons 
why I might justify the doing of it. But to waive all this 
for a while. It was in the middle of May, on the sixteenth 
day, I think, as well as my poor wooden calendar would 
reckon, for I marked all upon the post still ; I say, it was 


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on the sixteenth of May that it blew a very great storm of 
wind all day, with a great deal of lightning and thunder, 
and a very foul night it was after it. I knew not what 
was the particular occasion of it; but as I was reading the 
Bible, and taken up with very serious thoughts about my 
present condition, I was surprised with the noise of a gun, 
as I thought, fired at sea. This was, to be sure, a surprise 
of a quite different nature from any I had met with before ; 
for the notions this put into my thoughts were quite of 
another kind. I started up in the greatest haste imagina- 
ble ; and, in a trice, clapped my ladder to the middle place 
of the rock, and pulled it after me; and, mounting it the 
second time, got to the top of the hill the very moment 
that a flash of fire bade me listen for a second gun, which 
accordingly, in about half a minute, I heard; and by the 
sound, knew that it was from that part of the sea where I 
was driven out with the current in my boat. I immedi- 
ately considered that this must be some ship in distress, 
and that they had some comrade, or some other ship in 
company, and fired these for signals of distress, and to 
obtain help. I had the presence of mind, at that minute, 
to think that though I could not help them it might be 
they might help me. So I brought together all the dry 
wood I could get at hand, and, making a good handsome 
pile, I set it on fire upon the hill. The wood was dry and 
blazed freely; and though the wind blew very hard, yet 
it burned fairly out, so that I was certain, if there was any 
such thing as a ship, they must need see it, and no doubt 
they did; for as soon as ever my fire blazed up, I heard 
another gun, and after that several others, all from 
the same quarter. I plied my fire all night long, till 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


237 


daybreak; and when it was broad day, and the air cleared 
up, I saw something at a great distance at sea, full east of 
the island, whether a sail or a hull I could not distinguish 
— no, not with my glass; the distance was so great, and 
the weather still something hazy also — at least, it was so 
out at sea. 

I looked frequently at it all that day, and soon per- 
ceived that it did not move ; so I presently concluded that 
it was a ship at anchor; and being eager, you may be sure, 
to be satisfied, I took my gun in my hand, and ran 
towards the south side of the island, to the rocks where I 
had formerly been carried away with the current; and 
getting up there, the weather by this time being perfectly 
clear, I could plainly see, to my great sorrow, the wreck 
of a ship, cast away in the night upon those concealed 
rocks which I found when I was out in my boat; and 
which rocks, as they checked the violence of the stream, 
and made a kind of counter-stream, or eddy, were the 
occasion of my recovering from the most desperate, hope- 
less condition that ever I had been in in all my life. Thus, 
what is one man’s safety is another man’s destruction; 
for it seems these men, whoever they were, being out of 
their knowledge, and the rocks being wholly under water, 
had been driven upon them in the night, the wind blow- 
ing hard at E. and E.N.E. Had they seen the island, as 
I must necessarily suppose they did not, they must, as I 
thought, have endeavored to have saved themselves on 
shore by the help of their boat; but their firing off their 
guns for help, especially when they saw, as I imagined, 
my fire, filled me with many thoughts. First, I imagined 
that upon seeing my light they might have put themselves 


238 


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into their boat, and endeavored to make the shore; but 
that the sea running very high, they might have been 
cast away. Other times, I imagined that they might 
have lost their boat before, as might be the case many 
ways; as particularly, by the breaking of the sea upon 
their ship, which many times obliged men to stave, or 
take in pieces, their boat, and sometimes to throw it over- 
board with their own hands. Other times, I imagined 
they had some other ship or ships in company, who, upon 
the signals of distress they made, had taken them up and 
carried them off. Other times, I fancied they were all 
gone off to sea in their boat, and being carried away by 
the current that I had been formerly in, were carried out 
into the great ocean, where there was nothing but misery 
and perishing; and that, perhaps, they might by this 
time think of starving, and of being in a condition to eat 
one another. 

As all thege were but conjectures at best, so, in the 
condition I was in, I could do no more than look on upon 
the misery of the poor men, and pity them; which had 
still this good effect upon my side, that it gave me more 
and more cause to give thanks to God, who had so happily 
and comfortably provided for me in my desolate condi- 
tion; and that of two ships’ companies, who were now 
cast away upon this part of the world, not one life should 
be spared but mine. I learned here again to observe, 
that it is very rare that the providence of God casts us 
into any condition of life so low, or any misery so great, 
but we may see something or other to be thankful for, 
and may see others in worse circumstances than our own. 
Such certainly was the case of these men, of whom I could 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


239 


not so much as see room to suppose any of them were 
saved. Nothing could make it rational so much as to 
wish or expect that they did not all perish there, except 
the possibility only of their being taken up by another 
ship in company; and this was but mere possibility 
indeed, for I saw not the least sign or appearance of any 
such thing. I cannot explain, by any possible energy of 
words, what a strange longing I felt in my soul upon this 
sight, breaking out sometimes thus: “Oh, that there had 
been but one or two, nay, or but one soul, saved out of 
this ship, to have escaped to me, that I might but have 
one companion, one fellow-creature, to have spoken to 
me and to have conversed with!” In all the time of my 
solitary life I never felt so earnest, so strong a desire after 
the society of my fellow creatures, or so deep a regret at 
the want of it. 

There are some secret moving springs in the affections, 
which, when they are set a-going by some object in view, 
or, though not in view, yet rendered present to the mind 
by the power of imagination, that motion carries out the 
soul, by its impetuosity, to such violent, eager embracing 
of the object, that the absence of it is insupportable. 
Such were these earnest wishings that but one man had 
been saved. I believe I repeated the words, “Oh, that it 
had been but one!” a thousand times; and my desires 
were so moved by it that when I spoke the words my 
hands would clinch together, and my fingers would press 
the palms of my hands, so that if I had had any soft thing 
in my hand I would have crushed it involuntarily; and 
my teeth in my head would strike together, and set 
against one another so strong, that for some time I could 


240 


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not part them again. Let the naturalists explain these 
things, and the reason and manner of them. All I can 
say of them is to describe the fact, which was even sur- 
prising to me, when I found it, though I knew not from 
what it should proceed; it was, doubtless, the effect of 
ardent wishes, and of strong ideas formed in my mind, 
realizing the comfort which the conversation of one of 
my fellow- Christians would have been to me. But it 
was not to be; either their fate, or mine, or both, forbade 
it, for till the last year of my being on this island I never 
knew whether any were saved out of that ship or no ; and 
had only the affliction, some days after, to see the corpse 
of a drowned boy come on shore at the end of the island 
which was next the shipwreck. He had no clothes on 
but a seaman’s waistcoat, a pair of open-kneed linen 
drawers, and a blue linen shirt; nothing to direct me so 
much as to guess what nation he was of. He had nothing 
in his pockets but two pieces of eight and a tobacco-pipe 
— the last was to me oftentimes more value than the first. 

It was now calm, and I had a great mind to venture 
out in my boat to this wreck, not doubting but I might 
find something on board that might be useful to me. But 
that did not altogether press me so much as the possibility 
that there might be yet some living creature on board, 
whose life I might not only save, but might, by saving 
that life, comfort my own to the last degree; and this 
thought clung so to my heart that I could not be quiet 
night or day, but I must venture out in my boat on board 
this wreck; and committing the rest to God’s providence, 
I thought the impression was so strong upon my mind 
that it could not be resisted, that it must come from some 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


241 

invisible direction, and that I should be wanting to myself 
if I did not go. 

Under the power of this impression, I hastened back 
to my castle, prepared everything for my voyage, took a 
quantity of bread, a great pot for fresh water, a compass 
to steer by, a bottle of rum (for I had still a great deal of 
that left) , and a basket of raisins ; and thus loading myself 
with everything necessary, I went down to my boat, got 
the water out of her, got her afloat, loaded all my cargo 
in her, and then went home again for more. My second 
cargo was a great bag full of rice, the umbrella to set up 
over my head for a shade, another large pot full of fresh 
water, and about two dozen of small loaves, or barley 
cakes, more than before, with a bottle of goat’s milk, and 
a cheese; all which, with great labor and sweat, I brought 
to my boat; and praying to God to direct my voyage, I 
put out, and, rowing or paddling the canoe along the shore, 
came at last to the utmost point of the island on the 
northeast side. And now I was to launch out into the 
ocean, and either to venture or not to venture. I looked 
on the rapid currents which ran constantly on both sides 
of the island at a distance, and which were very terrible 
to me, from the remembrance of the hazard I had been in 
before, and my heart began to fail me; for I foresaw that 
if I was driven into either of those currents I should be 
carried a great way out to sea, and perhaps out of my 
reach, or sight of the island again; and that then, as my 
boat was but small, if any little gale of wind should rise, 
I should be inevitably lost. 

These thoughts so impressed my mind, that I began to 
give over my enterprise ; and having hauled my boat into 

16 


242 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


a little creek on the shore, I stepped out, and sat down 
upon a rising bit of ground, very pensive and anxious, 
between fear and desire about my voyage; when, as I 
was musing, I could perceive that the tide was turned, 
and the flood came on; upon which, my going was im- 
practicable for so many hours. Upon this, presently it 
occurred to me that I should go up to the highest piece of 
ground I could find, and observe, if I could, how the sets 
of the tide, or currents lay, when the flood came in, that I 
might judge whether, if I was driven one way out, I 
might not expect to be driven another way home, with 
the same rapidity of the currents. This thought was no 
sooner in my head than I cast my eye upon a little hill, 
which sufficiently overlooked the sea both ways, and from 
whence I had a clear view of the currents, or sets of the 
tide, and which way I was to guide myself in my return. 
Here I found that as the current of ebb set out close by 
the south point of the island, so the current of the flood 
set in close by the shore of the north side; and that I had 
nothing to do but to keep to the north of the island in my 
return, and I should do well enough. 

Encouraged with this observation, I resolved, the next 
morning, to set out with the first of the tide ; and, reposing 
myself for the night in my canoe, under the great watch- 
coat I mentioned, I launched out. I first made a little 
out to sea, full north, till I began to feel the benefit of the 
current, which set eastward, and which carried me at a 
great rate ; and yet did not so hurry me as the current on 
the south side had done before, so as to take from me all 
government of the boat; but having a strong steerage 
with my paddle, I went, at a great rate, directly for the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


243 


wreck, and in less than two hours I came up to it. It was 
a dismal sight to look at: the ship, which, by its building 
was Spanish, stuck fast, jammed in between two rocks; 
all the stern and quarter of her were beaten to pieces by 
the sea; and as her forecastle, which stuck in the rocks, 
had run on with great violence, her mainmast and fore- 
mast were brought by the board — that is to say, broken 
short off; but her bowsprit was sound, and the head and 
bow appeared firm.-- When I came close to her, a dog 
appeared upon her, who, seeing me coming, yelped and 
cried; and, as soon as I called him, jumped into the sea to 
come to me. I took him into the boat, but found him 
almost dead with hunger and thirst. I gave him a cake 
of my bread, and he devoured it like a ravenous wolf that 
had been starving a fortnight in the snow; I then gave 
the poor creature some fresh water, with which, if I 
would have let him, he would have burst himself. After 
this I went on board; but the first sight I met with was 
two men drowned in the cook room, or forecastle, of the 
ship, with their arms fast about one another. I con- 
cluded, as is indeed probable, that when the ship struck, 
it being in a storm, the sea broke so high and so continu- 
ally over her that the men were not able to bear it, and 
were strangled with the constant rushing in of the water, 
as much as if they had been under water. Besides the 
dog, there was nothing left in the ship that had life; nor 
any goods, that I could see, but what were spoiled by the 
water. There were some casks of liquor, whether wine 
or brandy, I knew not, which lay lower in the hold, and 
which, the water being ebbed out, I could see; but they 
were too big to meddle with. I saw several chests, which 


244 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I believed belonged to some of the seamen ; and I got two 
of them into the boat, without examining what was in 
them. Had the stern of the ship been fixed, and the 
forepart broken off, I am persuaded I might have made a 
good voyage; for, by what I found in these two chests, I 
had room to suppose the ship had a great deal of wealth 
on board; and, if I may guess from the course she steered, 
she must have been bound from Buenos Ayres, or the 
Rio de la Plata, in the south part of America, beyond the 
Brazils to the Havannah, in the Gulf of Mexico, and so 
perhaps to Spain. She had, no doubt, a great treasure in 
her, but of no use, at that time, to anybody; but what 
became of the crew I then knew not. 

I found besides these chests a little cask full of liquor, 
of about twenty gallons, which I got into my boat with 
much difficulty. There were several muskets in the 
cabin, and a great powder horn, with about four pounds 
of powder in it ; as for the muskets, I had no occasion for 
them, so I left them, but took the powder horn. I took 
a fire shovel and tongs, which I wanted extremely; as also 
two little brass kettles, a copper pot to make chocolate, 
and a gridiron; and with this cargo, and the dog, I came 
away, the tide beginning to make home again; and the 
same evening, about an hour within night, I reached the 
island again, weary and fatigued to the last degree. I 
reposed that night in the boat; and in the morning I 
resolved to harbor what I had got in my new cave, and 
not carry it home to my castle. After refreshing myself, 
I got all my cargo on shore, and began to examine the 
particulars. The cask of liquor I found to be a kind of 
rum, but not such as we had at the Brazils; and, in a 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


245 


word, not at all good: but when I came to open the 
chests, I found Several things of great use to me; for 
example, I found in one a fine case of bottles, of an extra- 
ordinary kind, and filled with cordial waters, fine and very 
good; the bottles held about three pints each, and were 
tipped with silver. I found two pots of very good 
succades, or sweetmeats, so fastened also on the top that 
the salt water had not hurt them; and two more of the 
same which the water had spoiled. I found some very 
good shirts, which were very welcome to me; and about a 
dozen and a half of white linen handkerchiefs and colored 
neckcloths; the former were also very welcome, being 
exceedingly refreshing to wipe my face in a hot day. 
Besides this, when I came to the till in the chest, I found 
there three great bags of pieces of eight, which held about 
eleven hundred pieces in all; and in one of them, wrapped 
up in a paper, six doubloons of gold, and some small bars 
or wedges of gold ; I suppose they might all weigh near a 
pound. In the other chest were some clothes, but of 
little value; but, by the circumstances, it must have 
belonged to the gunner’s mate; though there was no 
powder in it, except two pounds of fine glazed powder, in 
three small flasks, kept, I suppose, for charging their 
fowling pieces on occasion. Upon the whole, I got very 
little by this voyage that was of any use to me; for as to 
the money, I had no manner of occasion for it : it was to 
me as the dirt under my feet, and I would have given it 
all for three or four pair of English shoes and stockings, 
which were things I greatly wanted, but had none on my 
feet for many years. I had, indeed, got two pair of shoes 
now, which I took off the feet of the two drowned men 


2 46 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


whom I saw in the wreck, and I found two pair more in 
one of the chests, which were very welcome to me; but 
they were not like our English shoes, either for ease or 
service, being rather what we call pumps than shoes. I 
found in this seaman’s chest about fifty pieces of eight, 
in rials, but no gold. I suppose this belonged to a poorer 
man than the other, which seemed to belong to some 
officer. Well, however, I lugged this money home to my 
cave, and laid it up, as I had done that before which I had 
brought from our own ship ; but it was a great pity, as I 
said, that the other part of this ship had not come to my 
share; for I am satisfied I might have loaded my canoe 
several times over with money; which, if I had ever 
escaped to England, would have lain here safe enough till 
I might have come again and fetched it. 

Having now brought all my things on shore and 
secured them, I went back to my boat, and rowed or 
paddled her along the shore to her old harbor, where I 
laid her up, and made the best of my way to my old habi- 
tation, where I found everything safe and quiet. I began 
now to repose myself, live after my old fashion, and take 
care of my family affairs; and for a while I lived easy 
enough, only that I was more vigilant than I used to be, 
looked out oftener, and did not go abroad so much; and 
if, at any time, I did stir with any freedom, it was always 
to the east part of the island, where I was pretty well 
satisfied the savages never came, and where I could go 
without so many precautions, and such a load of arms 
and ammunition as I always carried with me if I went the 
the other way. I lived in this condition near two years 
more; but my unlucky head, that was always to let me 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


247 


know it was born to make my body miserable, was all 
these two years filled with projects and designs, how, if it 
were possible, I might get away from this island; for 
some time I was for making another voyage to the wreck, 
though my reason told me that there was nothing left 
there worth the hazard of my voyage; sometimes for a 
ramble one way, sometimes another; and I believe verily, 
if I had had the boat that I went from Sallee in, I should 
have ventured to sea, bound anywhere, I knew not 
whither. I have been in all my circumstances an example 
to those who are touched with the general plague of man- 
kind, whence, for aught I know, one-half of their miseries 
flow; I mean that of not being satisfied with the station 
wherein God and Nature hath placed them. For, not to 
look back upon my primitive condition, and the excellent 
advice of my father, the opposition to which was, as I 
may call it, my original sin, my subsequent mistakes of 
the same kind had been the means of my coming into this 
miserable condition; for had that Providence, which so 
happily seated me at the Brazils as a planter, blessed me 
with confined desires, and I could have been contented to 
have gone on gradually, I might have been by this time, 
I mean in the time of my being in this island, one of the 
most considerable planters in the Brazils. Nay, I am 
persuaded that by the improvements I had made in that 
little time I lived there, and the increase I should probably 
have made if I had remained, I might have been worth a 
hundred thousand moidores: and what business had I to 
leave a settled fortune, a well-stocked plantation, improv- 
ing and increasing, to turn supercargo to Guinea to fetch 
negroes, when patience and time would have so increased 


248 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


our stock at home that we could have bought them at our 
own door from those whose business it was to fetch them? 
And though it had cost us something more, yet the differ- 
ence of that price was by no means worth saving at so 
great a hazard. But as this is ordinarily the fate of young 
heads, so reflection upon the folly of it is as commonly the 
exercise of more years, or of the dear-bought experience of 
time; so it was with me now; and yet so deep had the 
mistake taken root in my temper, that I could not satisfy 
myself in my station, but was continually poring upon the 
means and possibility of my escape from this place; and 
that I may, with the greater pleasure to the reader, bring 
on the remaining part of my story, it may not be improper 
to give some account of my first conceptions on the sub- 
ject of this foolish scheme for my escape, and how, and 
upon what foundation, I acted. 

I am now to be supposed retired into my castle, after 
my late voyage to the wreck, my frigate laid up and 
secured under water, as usual, and my condition restored 
to what it was before. I had more wealth, indeed, than 
I had before, but was not at all the richer; for I had no 
more use for it than the Indians of Peru had before the 
Spaniards came there. 

It was one of the nights in the rainy season in March, 
the four-and-twentieth year of my first setting foot in this 
island of solitude. I was lying in my bed or hammock, 
awake, very well in health, had no pain, no distemper, no 
uneasiness of body nor any uneasiness of mind more than 
ordinary, but could by no means close my eyes, that is so 
as to sleep ; no, not a wink all night long, otherwise than 
as follows. It is impossible and needless to set down the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


249 


innumerable crowd of thoughts that whirled through that 
great thoroughfare of the brain — the memory — in this 
night’s time. I ran over the whole history of my life in 
miniature, or by abridgment, as I may call it, to my com- 
ing to this island. In my reflections upon the state of my 
case since I came on shore on this island, I was comparing 
the happy posture of my affairs in the first years of my 
habitation here, with the life of anxiety, fear, and care 
which I had lived in ever since I had seen the print of a 
foot in the sand; not that I did not believe the savages 
had frequented the island even all the while, and might 
have been several hundreds of them at times on shore 
there, but I had never known it, and was incapable of any 
apprehensions about it. My satisfaction was perfect, 
though my danger was the same, and I was as happy in 
not knowing my danger as if I had never really been 
exposed to it. This furnished my thoughts with many 
very profitable reflections, and particularly this one: 
How infinitely good that Providence is which has pro- 
vided, in its government of mankind, such narrow bounds 
to his sight and knowledge of things; and though he 
walks in the midst of so many thousand dangers, the sight 
of which, if discovered to him, would distract his mind 
and sink his spirits, he is kept serene and calm by having 
the events of things hid from his eyes, and knowing 
nothing of the dangers which surround him. 

After these thoughts had for some time entertained me, 
I came to reflect seriously upon the real danger I had been 
in for so many years in this very island, and how I had 
walked about in the greatest security, and with all possible 
tranquillity, even when perhaps nothing but the brow of 


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a hill, a great tree, or the casual approach of night, had 
been between me and the worst kind of destruction, viz., 
that of falling into the hands of cannibals and savages, 
who would have seized on me with the same view as I 
would on a goat or a turtle; and have thought it no more 
crime to kill and devour me than I did of a pigeon or a 
curlew. I would unjustly slander myself if I should say I 
was not sincerely thankful to my great Preserver, to 
whose singular protection I acknowledged, with great 
humility, all these unknown deliverances were due, and 
without which I must inevitably have fallen into their 
merciless hands. 

When these thoughts were over, my head was for 
some time taken up in considering the nature of these 
wretched creatures, I mean the savages, and how it came 
to pass, in the world, that the wise Governor of all things 
should give up any of his creatures to such inhumanity, 
nay, to something so much below even brutality itself, as 
to devour its own kind; but as this ended in some (at 
that time) fruitless speculations, it occurred to me to 
inquire, what part of the world these wretches lived in? 
how far off the coast was from whence they came? what 
they ventured over so far from home for? what kinds of 
boats they had? and why I might not order myself and 
my business so that I might be as able to go over thither, 
as they were to come to me. 

I never so much as troubled myself to consider what 
I should do with myself when I went thither; what would 
become of me if I fell into the hands of these savages; or 
how I should escape them if they attacked me; no, nor so 
much as how it was possible for me to reach the coast, and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


251 


not be attacked by some or other of them, without any 
possibility of delivering myself: and if I should not fall 
into their hands, what I should do for provision, or whither 
I should bend my course. None of these thoughts, I 
say, so much as came in my way; but my mind was 
wholly bent upon the notion of my passing over in my 
boat to the mainland. I looked upon my present condi- 
tion as the most miserable that could possibly be; that I 
was not able to throw myself into anything but death, 
that could be called worse; and if I reached the shore of 
the main, I might perhaps meet with relief, or I might 
coast along, as I did on the African shore, till I came to 
some inhabited country, and where I might find some 
relief; and, after all, perhaps I might fall in with some 
Christian ship that might take me in; and if the worst 
came to the worst, I could but die, which would put an 
end to all these miseries at once. Pray note, all this was 
the fruit of a disturbed mind, an impatient temper, made, 
as it were, desperate by the long continuance of my 
troubles, and the disappointments I had met with in the 
wreck I had been on board of, and where I had been so 
near the obtaining what I so earnestly longed for, namely, 
somebody to speak to, and to gain some knowledge of the 
place where I was, and of the probable means of my deliver- 
ance. I say I was agitated wholly by these thoughts; all 
my calm of mind, in my resignation to Providence, and 
waiting the issue of the dispositions of Heaven, seemed to 
be suspended; and I had, as it were, no power to turn my 
thoughts to anything but the project of a voyage to the 
main, which came upon me with such force, and such an 
impetuosity of desire, that it was not to be resisted. 


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When this had agitated my thoughts for two hours or 
more, with such violence that it set my very blood into a 
ferment, and my pulse beat as if I had been in a fever, 
merely with the extraordinary fervor of my mind about 
it, Nature, as if I had been fatigued and exhausted with 
the very thoughts of it, threw me into a sound sleep. 
One would have thought I should have dreamed of it, but 
I did not, nor of anything relating to it. But I dreamed 
that as I was going out in the morning, as usual, from my 
castle, I saw upon the shore two canoes and eleven sav- 
ages, coming to land, and that they brought with them 
another savage, whom they were going to kill, in order to 
eat him; when, on a sudden, the savage that they were 
going to kill jumped away, and ran for his life; then I 
thought, in my sleep, that he came running into my little 
thick grove before my fortification, to hide himself; and 
that I, seeing him alone, and not perceiving that the 
others sought him that way, showed myself to him, and, 
smiling upon him, encouraged him; that he kneeled 
down to me, seeming to pray me to assist him; upon 
which I showed him my ladder, made him go up it, and 
carried him into my cave, and he became my servant; 
and that as soon as I had this man, I said to myself, 
“Now I may certainly venture to the mainland, for this 
fellow will serve me as a pilot, and will tell me what to do, 
and whither to go for provisions, and whither not to go 
for fear of being devoured; what places to venture into 
and what to escape.” I waked with this thought; and 
was under such inexpressible impressions of joy at the 
prospect of my escape in my dream, that the disappoint- 
ments which I felt upon coming to myself, and finding 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


253 


that it was no more than a dream, were equally extrava- 
gant the other way, and threw me into a good dejection 
of spirits. 

Upon this, however, I made this conclusion; that my 
only way to go about an attempt for an escape was, if 
possible, to get a savage into my possession; and, if possi- 
ble, it should be one of their prisoners, whom they had 
condemned to be eaten, and should bring hither to kill. 
But these thoughts still were attended with this difficulty, 
that it was impossible to effect this without attacking the 
whole caravan of them, and killing them all ; and this was 
not only a very desperate attempt, and might miscarry, 
but, on the other hand, I had greatly scrupled the law- 
fulness of it to me ; and my heart trembled at the thoughts 
of shedding so much blood, though it was for my deliver- 
ance. I need not repeat the arguments which occurred 
to me against this, they being the same mentioned before; 
but though I had other reasons to offer now — viz., that 
those men were enemies to my life, and would devour me 
if they could ; that it was self-preservation, in the highest 
degree, to deliver myself from this death of a life, and was 
acting in my own defense as much as if they were actually 
assaulting me, and the like; I say, though these things 
argued for it, yet the thoughts of shedding human blood 
for my deliverance were very terrible to me, and such as 
I could by no means reconcile myself to for a great while. 
However, at last after many secret disputes with myself, 
and after great perplexities about it (for all these argu- 
ments, one way and another, struggled in my head a long 
time), the eager prevailing desire of deliverance at length 
mastered all the rest; and I resolved, if possible, to get 


254 


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one of these savages into my hands, cost what it would. 
My next thing was to contrive how to do it, and this 
indeed was very difficult to resolve on; but as I could 
pitch upon no probable means for it, so I resolved to put 
myself upon the watch, to see them when they came on 
shore, and leave the rest to the event ; taking such meas- 
ures as the opportunity should present, let be what 
would be. 

With these resolutions in my thoughts, I set myself 
upon the scout as often as possible, and indeed so often 
that I was heartily tired of it; for it was above a year and 
a half that I waited; and for a great part of that time 
went out to the west end, and to the southwest corner of 
the island almost every day, to look for canoes, but none 
appeared. This was very discouraging, and began to 
trouble me much, though I cannot say that it did in this 
case (as it had done some time before) wear off the edge of 
my desire to the thing; but the longer it seemed to be 
delayed, the more eager I was for it. In a word, I was 
not at first so careful to shun the sight of these savages, 
and avoid being seen by them, as I was now eager to be 
upon them. Besides, I fancied myself able to manage 
one, nay, two or three savages, if I had them, so as to 
make them entirely slaves to me, to do whatever I should 
direct them, and to prevent their being able at any time 
to do me any hurt. It was a great while that I pleased 
myself with this affair; but nothing still presented; all 
my fancies and schemes came to nothing, for no savages 
came near me for a great while. 

About a year and a half after I entertained these 
notions (and by long musing had, as it were, resolved 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


255 


them all into nothing, for want of an occasion to put 
them in execution), I was surprised one morning early by 
seeing no less than five canoes all on shore together on my 
side the island, and the people who belonged to them all 
landed and out of my sight. The number of them broke 
all my measures; for seeing so many, and knowing that 
■“they always came four or six, or sometimes more, in a 
boat, I could not tell what to think of it, or how to take 
my measures to attack twenty or thirty men single- 
handed; so lay still in my castle, perplexed and discom- 
forted. However, I put myself into all the same postures 
for an attack that I had formerly provided, and was just 
ready for action, if anything had presented. Having 
waited a good while, listening to hear if they made any 
noise, at length, being very impatient, I set my guns at 
the foot of my ladder, and clambered up to the top of the 
hill, by my two stages, as usual; standing so, however, 
that my head did not appear above the hill, so that they 
could not perceive me by any means. Here I observed, 
by the help of my perspective glass, that they were no less 
than thirty in number; that they had a fire kindled, and 
that they had meat dressed. How they had cooked it, I 
knew not, or what it was; but they were all dancing, in I 
know not how many barbarous gestures and figures, their 
own way, round the fire. 

While I was thus looking on them, I perceived, by my 
perspective, two miserable wretches dragged from the 
boats, where, it seems, they were laid by, and were now 
brought out for the slaughter. I perceived one of them 
immediately fall; being knocked down, I suppose, with a 
club or wooden sword, for that was their way, and two or 


256 


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three others were at work immediately, cutting him up 
for their cookery, while the other victim was left standing 
by himself, till they should be ready for him. In that 
very moment this poor wretch, seeing himself a little at 
liberty, and unbound, Nature inspired him with hopes of 
life and he started away from them, and ran with incredi- 
ble swiftness along the sands, directly towards me; I 
mean towards that part of the coast where my habitation 
was. I was dreadfully frightened, that I must acknowl- 
edge, when I perceived him run my way; and especially 
when, as I thought, I saw him pursued by the whole body; 
and now I expected that part of my dream was coming to 
pass, and that he would certainly take shelter in my 
grove; but I could not depend, by any means, upon my 
dream, that the other savages would not pursue him 
thither, and find him there. However, I kept my sta- 
tion, and my spirits began to recover when I found that 
there was not above three men that followed him; and 
still more was encouraged when I found that he out- 
stripped them exceedingly in running, and gained ground 
on them; so that, if he could but hold it for half an hour, 
I saw easily he would fairly get away from them all. 

There was, between them and my castle, the creek, 
which I mentioned often in the first part of my story, 
where I landed my cargoes out of the ship ; and this I saw 
plainly he must necessarily swim over, or the poor wretch 
would be taken there; but when the savage escaping 
came thither, he made nothing of it, though the tide was 
then up; but, plunging in, swam through in about thirty 
strokes, or thereabouts, landed, and ran with exceeding 
strength and swiftness. When the three persons came to 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


25 7 


the creek I found that two of them could swim, but the 
third could not, and that, standing on the other side, he 
looked at the others, but went no farther, and soon after 
went softly back again; which, as it happened, was very 
well for him in the end. I observed that the two who 
swam were yet more than twice as long swimming over 
the creek than the fellow was that fled from them. It 
came very warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irre- 
sistibly, that now was the time to get me a servant, and 
perhaps a companion or assistant; and that I was plainly 
called by Providence to save this poor creature’s life. I 
immediately ran down the ladder with all possible expe- 
dition, fetched my two guns, for they were both at the 
foot of the ladder, as I observed before, and getting up 
again with the same haste to the top of the hill, I crossed 
towards the sea; and having a very short cut, and all 
down hill, clapped myself in the way between the pur- 
suers and the pursued, hallooing aloud to him that fled, 
who, looking back, was at first perhaps as much fright- 
ened at me as at them. But I beckoned with my hand 
to him to come back; and, in the meantime, I slowly 
advanced towards the two that followed. Then rushing 
at once upon the foremost, I knocked him down with the 
stock of my piece. I was loth to fire, because I would not 
have the rest hear; though at that distance it would not 
have been easily heard, and being out of sight of the 
smoke, too, they would not have known what to make of 
it. Having knocked this fellow down, the other who 
pursued him stopped, as if he had been frightened, and I 
advanced towards him. But as I came nearer I per- 
ceived presently he had a bow and arrow, and was fitting 


17 


258 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


it to shoot at me ; so I was then obliged to shoot at him 
first, which I did, and killed him at the first shot. The 
poor savage who fled, but had stopped, though he saw 
both his enemies fallen and killed, as he thought, yet was 
so frightened with the fire and noise of my piece that he 
stood stock still, and neither came forward nor went 
backward, though he seemed rather inclined still to fly 
than to come on. I hallooed again to him, and made 
signs to come forward, which he easily understood, and 
came a little way; then stopped again, and then a little 
farther, and stopped again; and I could then perceive 
that he stood trembling, as if he had been taken prisoner, 
and was just about to be killed, as his two enemies 
were. I beckoned to him again to come to me, and gave 
him all the signs of encouragement that I could think of. 
And he came nearer and nearer, kneeling down every ten 
or twelve steps, in token of acknowledgment for saving 
his life. I smiled at him, and looked pleasant, and 
beckoned to him to come still nearer. At length he came 
close to me; and then he kneeled down again, kissed the 
ground, and laid his head upon the ground, and, taking 
me by the foot, set my foot upon his head ; this, it seems, 
was in token of swearing to be my slave forever. I took 
him up, and made much of him, and encouraged him all I 
could. But there was more work to do yet; for I per- 
ceived the savage whom I had knocked down was not 
killed, but stunned with the blow, and began to come to 
himself. So I pointed to him, and showed him the sav- 
age, that he was not dead. Upon this he spoke some 
words to me, and though I could not understand them, 
yet I thought they were pleasant to hear, for they were 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


259 


the first sound of a man’s voice that I had heard, my own 
excepted, for above twenty-five years. But there was no 
time for such reflections now. The savage who was 
knocked down recovered himself so far as to sit up upon 
the ground, and I perceived that my savage began to be 
afraid ; but when I saw that, I presented my other piece at 
the man, as if I would shoot him. Upon this my savage, 
for so I call him now, made a motion to me to lend him 
my sword, which hung naked in a belt by my side, which 
I did. He no sooner had it, but he runs to his enemy, 
and at one blow cut off his head so cleverly, no execu- 
tioner in Germany could have done it sooner or better; 
which I thought very strange for one who, I had reason to 
believe, never saw a sword in his life before, except their 
own wooden swords. However, it seems, as I learned 
afterwards, they make their wooden swords so sharp, so 
heavy, and the wood is so hard, that they will even cut off 
heads with them, ay, and arms, and that at one blow too. 
When he had done this, he comes laughing to me in sign 
of triumph, and brought me the sword again, and with 
abundance of gestures which I did not understand, laid 
it down, with the head of the savage that he had killed 
just before me. But that which astonished him most 
was to know how I killed the other Indian so far off. So 
pointing to him, he made signs to me to let him go to him ; 
and I bade him go, as well as I could. When he came to 
him he stood like one amazed, looking at him, turning 
him first on one side, then on the other; looked at the 
wound the bullet had made, which it seems was just in his 
breast, where it had made a hole, and no great quantity 
of blood had followed; but he had bled inwardly, for he 


260 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


was quite dead. He took up his bow and arrows, and 
came back; so I turned to go away, and beckoned him to 
follow me, making signs to him that more might come 
after them. 

Upon this he made signs to me that he should bury 
them with sand, that they might not be seen by the rest, 
if they followed ; and so I made signs to him again to do 
so. He fell to work; and in an instant he had scraped a 
hole in the sand with his hands, big enough to bury the 
first in, and then dragged him into it, and covered him; 
and did so by the other also; I believe he had buried them 
both in a quarter of an hour. Then calling him away, I 
carried him, not to my castle, but quite away to my cave, 
on the farther part of the island; so I did not let my 
dream come to pass in that part, that he came into my 
grove for shelter. Here I gave him bread and a bunch of 
raisins to eat, and a draught of water, which I found he 
was indeed in great distress for from his running; and 
having refreshed him, I made signs for him to go and lie 
down to sleep, showing him a place where I had laid some 
rice straw, and a blanket upon it, which I used to sleep 
upon myself sometimes; so the poor creature lay down, 
and went to sleep. 

He was a comely, handsome fellow, perfectly well 
made, with straight, strong limbs, not too large, tall and 
well shaped; and, as I reckon, about twenty-six years of 
age. He had a very good countenance, not a fierce and 
surly aspect, but seemed to have something very manly in 
his face ; and yet he had all the sweetness and softness of a 
European in his countenance, too, especially when he 
smiled. His hair was long and black, not curled like 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


261 


wool; his forehead very high and large; and a great vi- 
vacity and sparkling sharpness in his eyes. The color of 
his skin was not quite black, but very tawny; and yet not 
an ugly, yellow, nauseous tawny, as the Brazilians and 
Virginians, and other natives of America are, but of a 
bright kind of a dun olive color, that had in it something 
very agreeable, though not very easy to describe. His 
face was round and plump; his nose small, not flat like the 
negroes; a very good mouth, thin lips, and his fine teeth 
well set, and as white as ivory. 

After he had slumbered, rather than slept, about half 
an hour, he awoke again, and came out of the cave to me, 
for I had been milking my goats, which I had in the 
inclosure just by. When he espied me he came running 
to me, laying himself down again upon the ground, with 
all the possible signs of an humble, thankful disposition, 
making a great many antic gestures to show it. At last 
he lays his head flat upon the ground, close to my foot, 
and sets my other foot upon his head, as he had done 
before; and after this, made all the signs to me of subjec- 
tion, servitude, and submission imaginable, to let me 
know how he would serve me so long as he lived. I under- 
stood him in many things, and let him know I was very 
well pleased with him. In a little time I began to speak 
to him, and teach him to speak to me; and, first, I let 
him know his name should be Friday, which was the day 
I saved his life; I called him so for the memory of the 
time. I likewise taught him to say Master, and then let 
him know that was to be my name ; I likewise taught him 
to say Yes and No, and to know the meaning of them. I 
gave him some milk in an earthen pot, and let him see me 


26 2 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


drink it before him, and sop my bread in it; and gave 
him a cake of bread to do the like, which he quickly com- 
plied with, and made signs that it was very good for 
him. I kept there with him all that night. But as soon 
as it was day I beckoned to him to come with me, and let 
him know I would give him some clothes; at which he 
seemed very glad, for he was stark naked. As we went by 
the place where he had buried the two men, he pointed 
exactly to the place, and showed me the marks that he 
had made to find them again, making signs to me that we 
should dig them up again and eat them. At this I 
appeared very angry, expressed my abhorrence of it, made 
as if I would vomit at the thoughts of it, and beckoned 
with my hand to him to come away, which he did im- 
mediately, with great submission. I then led him up to 
the top of the hill, to see if his enemies were gone, and 
pulling out my glass, I looked, and saw plainly the place 
where they had been, but no appearance of them or their 
canoes ; so that it was plain they were gone, and left their 
two comrades behind them, without any search after them. 

But I was not content with this discovery; but, hav- 
ing now more courage, and consequently more curiosity, 
I took my man Friday with me, giving him the sword in 
his hand, with the bow and arrows at his back, which I 
found he could use very dexterously, making him carry 
one gun for me, and I two for myself; and away we 
marched to the place where these creatures had been — for 
I had a mind now to get some fuller intelligence of them. 
When I came to the place my very blood ran chill in my 
veins, and my heart sunk within me at the horror of the 
spectacle; indeed, it was a dreadful sight: at least it 



At last he lays his head flat upon the ground , close to my foot, and 

sets my other foot upon his head 











ROBINSON CRUSOE 


263 


was so to me, though Friday made nothing of it. The 
place was covered with human bones, the ground dyed 
with the blood, and great pieces of flesh left here and 
there, half-eaten, mangled, and scorched; and, in short, 
all the tokens of the triumphant feast they had been mak- 
ing there, after a victory over their enemies. I saw three 
skulls, five hands, and the bones of three or four legs and 
feet, and abundance of other parts of the bodies; and 
Friday, by his signs, made me understand that they 
brought over four prisoners to feast upon; that three of 
them were eaten up and that he, pointing to himself, was 
the fourth; that there had been a great battle between 
them and their next king, of whose subjects, it seems, he 
had been one, and that they had taken a great number of 
prisoners; all which were carried to several places by those 
who had taken them in the fight, in order to feast upon 
them, as was done here by these wretches upon those they 
brought hither. 

I caused Friday to gather all the skulls, bones, flesh, 
and whatever remained, and lay them together on a heap, 
and make a great fire upon it, and burn them all to ashes. 
I found Friday had still a hankering stomach after some 
of the flesh, and was still a cannibal in his nature; but I 
discovered so much abhorrence at the very thoughts of it, 
and at the least appearance of it, that he durst not dis- 
cover it — for I had, by some means, let him know that I 
would kill him if he offered it. 

When he had done this we came back to our castle, and 
there I fell to work for my man Friday; and, first of all, I 
gave him a pair of linen drawers, which I had out of the 
poor gunner’s chest I mentioned, which I found in the 


264 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


wreck, and which, with a little alteration, fitted him very 
well; and then I made him a jerkin of goat’s skin, as well 
as my skill would allow (for I was now grown a tolerably 
good tailor) ; and I gave him a cap which I made of hare’s 
skin, very convenient, and fashionable enough, and thus 
he was clothed, for the present, tolerably well, and was 
mighty well pleased to see himself almost as well clothed 
as his master. It is true, he went awkwardly in these 
clothes at first; wearing the drawers was very awkward 
to him, and the sleeves of the waistcoat galled his shoul- 
ders and the inside of his arms — but a little easing 
them where he complained they hurt him, and using him- 
self to them, at length he took to them very well. 

The next day, after I came home to my hutch with 
him, I began to consider where I should lodge him; and, 
that I might do well for him, and yet be perfectly easy 
myself, I made a little tent for him in the vacant place 
between my two fortifications, in the inside of the last, 
and in the outside of the first. As there was a door or 
entrance there into my cave, I made a formal framed 
door-case, and a door to it of boards, and set it up in the 
passage, a little within the entrance; and, causing the 
door to open in the inside, I barred it up in the night, 
taking in my ladders, too; so that Friday could no way 
come at me in the inside of my innermost wall, without 
making so much noise in getting over that it must needs 
awaken me; for my first wall had now a complete roof 
over it of long poles, covering all my tent, and leaning up 
to the side of the hill; which was again laid across with 
smaller sticks, instead of laths, and then thatched over a 
great thickness with the rice-straw, which was strong, like 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


265 


reeds ; and at the hole or place which was left to go in or 
out by the ladder, I had placed a kind of trap door, which, 
if it had been attempted on the outside, would not have 
opened at all, but would have fallen down and made a 
great noise; as to weapons, I took them all into my side 
every night. But I needed none of all this precaution; 
for never man had a more faithful, loving, sincere servant 
than Friday was to me; without passions, sullenness, or 
designs, perfectly obliging and industrious; his affections 
were tied to me like those of a child to a father; and I 
dare say he would have sacrificed his life for saving mine, 
upon any occasion whatsoever. The many testimonies 
he gave me of this put it out of doubt, and soon convinced 
me that I needed no precautions for my safety on his 
account. 

This frequently gave me occasion to observe, and that 
with wonder, that however it had pleased God in his 
providence, and in the government of the works of his 
hands, to take from so great a part of the world of his 
creatures the best uses to which their faculties and the 
powers of their souls are adapted, yet that he has be- 
stowed upon them the same powers, the same reason, the 
same affections; the same sentiments of kindness and 
obligation; the same passions and resentments of wrongs; 
the same sense of gratitude, sincerity, fidelity, and all the 
capacities of doing good and receiving good, that he has 
given to us ; and that when he pleases to offer them occa- 
sions of exerting these, they are as ready, nay, more 
ready, to apply them to the right uses for which they 
were bestowed than we are. This made me very melan- 
choly sometimes, in reflecting, as the several occasions 


266 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


presented, how mean a use we make of all these, even 
though we have these powers enlightened by the great 
lamp of instruction, the spirit of God, and by the knowl- 
edge of his word added to our understanding; and why it 
has pleased God to hide the like saving knowledge from 
so many millions of souls, who, if I might judge by this 
poor savage, would make a much better use of it than we 
did. From hence, I sometimes was led too far, to invade 
the sovereignty of Providence, and, as it were, arraign the 
justice of so arbitrary a disposition of things, that should 
hide that sight from some, and reveal it to others, and yet 
expect a little duty from both; but I shut it up, and 
checked my thoughts with this conclusion: first, That 
we did not know by what light and law these should be 
condemned; but that as God was necessarily, and, by the 
nature of his being, infinitely holy and just, so it could not 
be; but if these creatures were all sentenced to absence 
from himself, it was on account of sinning against that 
light, which, as the Scripture says, was a law to them- 
selves, and by such rules as their conscience would 
acknowledge to be just, though the foundation was not 
discovered to us; and, secondly, That still, as we are all 
the clay in the hand of the Potter, no vessel could say to 
him, “Why hast thou formed me thus?” 

But to return to my new companion. I was greatly 
delighted with him, and made it my business to teach him 
everything that was proper to make him useful, handy, 
and helpful ; but especially to make him speak, and under- 
stand me when I spoke ; and he was the aptest scholar that 
ever was; and particularly was so merry, so constantly 
diligent, and so pleased when he could but understand 


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me, or make me understand him, that it was very 
pleasant to me to talk to him. And now my life began to 
be so easy that I began to say to myself that could I but 
have been safe from more savages, I cared not if I was 
never to remove from the place while I lived. 

After I had been two or three days returned to my 
castle, I thought that, in order to bring Friday off from 
his horrid way of feeding, and from the relish of a canni- 
bal’s stomach, I ought to let him taste other flesh; so I 
took him out with me one morning to the woods. I went, 
indeed, intending to kill a kid out of my own flock, and 
bring it home and dress it ; but as I was going, I saw a she- 
goat lying down in the shade, and two young kids sitting 
by her. I caught hold of Friday. "Hold,” said I, 
‘ ' stand still ’ ’ ; and made signs to him not to stir. Immedi- 
ately I presented my piece, shot and killed one of the kids. 
The poor creature, who had, at a distance, indeed, seen 
me kill the savage, his enemy, but did not know, nor could 
imagine, how it was done, was sensibly surprised; trem- 
bled, and shook, and looked so amazed that I thought he 
would have sunk down. He did not see the kid I shot at, 
or perceive I had killed it, but ripped up his waistcoat to 
feel whether he was not wounded: and, as I found pres- 
ently, thought I was resolved to kill him: for he came 
and kneeled down to me, and embracing my knees, said a 
great many things I did not understand. But I could 
easily see the meaning was to pray me not to kill him. 

I soon found a way to convince him that I would do 
him no harm; and taking him up by the hand, laughed at 
him, and pointing to the kid which I had killed, beckoned 
to him to run and fetch it, which he did. And while he 


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was wondering, and looking to see how the creature was 
killed, I loaded my gun again. By and by I saw a great 
fowl, like a hawk, sitting upon a tree within shot; so, to 
let Friday understand a little what I would do, I called 
him to me again, pointed at the fowl, which was indeed a 
parrot, though I thought it had been a hawk; I say, point- 
ing to the parrot, and to my gun, and to the ground under 
the parrot, to let him see I would make it fall, I made him 
understand that I would shoot and kill that bird; accord- 
ingly, I fired, and bade him look, and immediately he saw 
the parrot fall. He stood like one frightened again, not- 
withstanding all I had said to him. And I found he was 
the more amazed because he did not see me put anything 
into the gun, but thought that there must be some won- 
derful fund of death and destruction in that thing, able to 
kill man, beast, bird, or anything near or far off; and the 
astonishment this created in him was such as could not 
wear off for a long time; and I believe, if I would have let 
him, he would have worshiped me and my gun. As for 
the gun itself, he would not so much as touch it for several 
days after; but he would speak to it and talk to it, as if it 
had answered him, when he was by himself; which, as I 
afterwards learned of him, was to desire it not to kill him. 
Well, after his astonishment was a little over at this, I 
pointed to him to run and fetch the bird I had shot, which 
he did, but stayed some time; for the parrot, not being 
quite dead, had fluttered away a good distance from the 
place where she fell: however, he found her, took her up, 
and brought her to me; and as I had perceived his igno- 
rance about the gun before, I took this advantage to charge 
the gun again, and to let him see me do it, that I might be 


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269 


ready for any other mark that might present ; but nothing 
more offered at that time: so I brought home the kid, 
and the same evening I took the skin off, and cut it out as 
well as I could; and having a pot fit for that purpose, I 
boiled or stewed some of the flesh, and made some very 
good broth. After I had begun to eat some, I gave some 
to my man, who seemed very glad of it, and liked it very 
well ; but that which was strangest to him was to see me 
eat salt with it. He made a sign to me that the salt was 
not good to eat; and putting a little into his own mouth, 
he seemed to nauseate it and would spit and sputter at it, 
washing his mouth with fresh water after it; on the other 
hand, I took some meat into my mouth without salt, and 
I pretended to spit and sputter for want of salt, as fast as 
he had done at the salt; but it would not do; he would 
never care for salt with his meat, or in his broth; at least, 
not for a great while, and then but a very little. 

Having thus fed him with boiled meat and broth, I 
was resolved to feast him the next day with roasting a 
piece of the kid ; this I did by hanging it before the fire 
on a string, as I had seen many people do in England, 
setting two poles up, one on each side of the fire, and one 
across on the top, and tying the string to the cross stick, 
letting the meat turn continually. This Friday admired 
very much; but when he came to taste the flesh, he took 
so many ways to tell me how well he liked it that I could 
not but understand him ; and at last he told me, as well as 
he could, he would never eat man’s flesh any more, which 
I was very glad to hear. 

The next day I set him to work to beating some corn 
out, and sifting it in the manner I used to do, as I observed 


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before; and he soon understood how to do it as well as I, 
especially after he had seen what the meaning of it was, 
and that it was to make bread of ; for after that, I let him 
see me make my bread, and bake it, too: and in a little 
time Friday was able to do all the work for me, as well as 
I could do it myself. 

I began now to consider that having two mouths to 
feed instead of one, I must provide more ground for my 
harvest, and plant a larger quantity of corn than I used to 
do; so I marked out a larger piece of land, and began the 
fence in the same manner as before, in which Friday 
worked not only very willingly and very hard, but did it 
very cheerfully; and I told him what it was for; that it 
was for com to make more bread, because he was now 
with me, and that I might have enough for him and 
myself too. He appeared very sensible of that part, 
and let me know that he thought I had much more labor 
upon me on his account, than I had for myself; and 
that he would work the harder for me, if I would tell 
him what to do. 

This was the pleasantest year of all the life I led in 
this place. Friday began to talk pretty well, and under- 
stand the names of almost everything I had occasion to 
call for, and every place I had to send him to, and talked 
a great deal to me; so that, in short, I began now to have 
some use for my tongue again, which, indeed, I had very 
little occasion for before; that is to say, about speech. 
Besides the pleasure of talking to him, I had a singular 
satisfaction in the fellow himself: his simple, unfeigned 
honesty appeared to me more and more every day, and I 
began really to love the creature; and on his side I believe 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


271 


he loved me more than it was possible for him ever to love 
anything before. 

I had a mind once to try if he had any hankering 
inclination to his own country again; and having taught 
him English so well that he could answer me almost any 
question, I asked him whether the nation that he belonged 
to never conquered in battle. At which he smiled, and 
said, “Yes, yes, we always fight the better”; that is, he 
meant, always get the better in fight; and so we began 
the following discourse : 

Master. You always fight the better; how came you 
,0 be taken prisoner then, Friday? 

Friday. My nation beat much, for all that. 

Master. How beat? If your nation beat them, how 
came you to be taken? 

Friday. They more many than my nation, in the 
place where me was; they take one, two, three, and 
me; my nation overbeat them in the yonder place, 
where me no was; there my nation take one, two, great 
thousand. 

Master. But why did not your side recover you from 
the hands of your enemies then? 

Friday. They run, one, two, three, and me, and make 
me go in the canoe; my nation have no canoe that time. 

Master. Well, Friday, and what does your nation do 
with the men they take? Do they carry them away and 
eat them, as these did? 

Friday. Yes, my nation eat mans too; eat all up. 

Master. Where do they carry them? 

Friday. Go to other place, where they think. 

Master. Do they come hither? 


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Friday. Yes, yes, they come hither; come other else 
place. 

Master. Have you been here with them? 

Friday. Yes, I been here (points to the N.W. side of 
the island, which, it seems, was their side). 

By this I understood that my man Friday had formerly 
been among the savages who used to come on shore on the 
farther part of the island, on the said man-eating occa- 
sions that he was now brought for; and, some time after, 
when I took the courage to carry him to that side, being 
the same I formerly mentioned, he presently knew the 
place, and told me he was there once, when they ate up 
twenty men, two women, and one child ; he could not tell 
twenty in English, but he numbered them by laying so 
many stones in a row, and pointing to me to tell them over. 

I have told this passage, because it introduces what 
follows: that after this discourse I had with him, I asked 
him how far it was from our island to the shore, and 
whether the canoes were not often lost. He told me there 
was no danger, no canoes ever lost; but that after a little 
way out to sea, there was a current and wind, always one 
way in the morning, the other in the afternoon. This I 
understood to be no more than the sets of the tide, as 
going out or coming in; but I afterwards understood it 
was occasioned by the great draft and reflux of the mighty 
river Oroonoko, in the mouth of which river, as I thought 
afterwards, our island lay; and that this land which I 
perceived to the W. and N.W. was the great island Trini- 
dad, on the north point of the mouth of the river. I asked 
Friday a thousand questions about the country, the 
inhabitants, the sea, the coast, and what nations were 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


273 


near. He told me all he knew, with the greatest openness 
imaginable. I asked him the names of the several nations 
of his sort of people, but could get no other name than 
Caribs ; from which I easily understood that these were 
the Caribbees, which our maps place on the part of 
America which reaches from the mouth of the river 
Oroonoko to Guiana, and onwards to St. Martha. He 
told me, that up a great way beyond the moon (that was, 
beyond the setting of the moon, which must be west from 
their country), there dwelt white-bearded men like me, 
and pointed to my great whiskers, which I mentioned 
before; and that they had killed much mans, that was 
his word; by all which I understood he meant the 
Spaniards, whose cruelties in America had been spread 
over the whole country and were remembered by all the 
nations, from father to son. 

I inquired if he could tell me how I might come from 
this island, and get among those white men. He told me, 
“Yes, yes, I might go in two canoe.” I could not under- 
stand what he meant by two canoe, till at last, with great 
difficulty, I found he meant it must be in a large, great 
boat, as big as two canoes. This part of Friday’s dis- 
course began to relish with me very well; and from this 
time I entertained some hopes that, one time or other, I 
might find an opportunity to make my escape from this 
place, and that this poor savage might be a means to help 
me to do it. 

During the long time that Friday had now been with 
me, and that he began to speak to me, and understand 
me, I was not slow to lay a foundation of religious 
knowledge in his mind ; particularly I asked him one time 

18 


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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


who made him. The poor creature did not understand 
me at all,*but thought I had asked him who was his father : 
but I took it by another handle, and asked him who made 
the sea, the ground we walked on, and the hills and 
woods. He told me, “ It was one Benamuckee, that lived 
beyond all.” He could describe nothing of this great per- 
son, but that he was very old, “much older,” he said, 
“than the sea or the land, than the moon or the stars.” 
I asked him, then, if this old person had made all things, 
why did not all things worship him? He looked very 
grave, and, with a perfect look of innocence, said, “All 
things said O! to him.” I asked him if the people who 
die in his country went away anywhere. He said, “Yes; 
they all went to Benamuckee.” Then I asked him 
whether those they eat up went thither too. He said, 
“Yes.” 

From these things I began to instruct him in the 
knowledge of the true God. I told him that the great 
Maker of all things lived there, pointing up towards 
heaven; that he governed the world by the same power 
and providence by which he made it ; that he was omnipo- 
tent, and could do everything for us, give everything to 
us, take everything from us; and thus, by degrees, I 
opened his eyes. He listened with great attention, and 
received with pleasure the notion of Jesus Christ being 
sent to redeem us, and of the manner of making our 
prayers to God, and his being able to hear us, even into 
heaven. He told me one day that if our God could hear 
us, up beyond the sun, he must needs be a greater God 
than their Benamuckee, who lived but a little way off, 
and yet could not hear till they went up to the great 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


275 


mountains where he dwelt to speak to him. I asked him 
if ever he went thither to speak to him. He said, “No; 
they never went that were young men; none went thither 
but the old men,” whom he called their Oowokakee; that 
is, as I made him explain it to me, their religious, or 
clergy; and that they went to say O! (so he called saying 
prayers) and then came back and told them what Bena- 
muckee said. By this I observed, that there is priest- 
craft even among the most blinded, ignorant pagans in 
the world; and the policy of making a secret of religion, 
in order to preserve the veneration of the people to the 
clergy, is not only to be found in the Roman, but, per- 
haps, among all religions in the world, even among the 
most brutish and barbarous savages. 

I endeavored to clear up this fraud to my man Friday, 
and told him that the pretense of their old men going up 
to the mountains to say O ! to their god Benamuckee was 
a cheat; and their bringing word from thence what he 
said was much more so; that if they met with any answer, 
or spoke with any one there, it must be with an evil spirit. 
And then I entered into a long discourse with him about 
the devil, the original of him, his rebellion against God, 
his enmity to man, the reason of it, his setting himself up 
in the dark parts of the world to be worshiped instead of 
God, and as God, and the many stratagems he made use 
of to delude mankind to their ruin; how he had a secret 
access to our passions and to our affections, and to adapt 
his snares to our inclinations, so as to cause us even to be 
our own tempters, and run upon our own destruction by 
our own choice. 

I found it was not so easy to imprint right notions in 


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his mind about the devil as it was about the being of a 
God: nature assisted all my arguments to evidence to 
him even the necessity of a great First Cause — an over- 
ruling, governing Power — a secret directing Providence; 
and of the equity and justice of paying homage to him 
that made us, and the like. But there appeared nothing 
of this kind in the notion of an evil spirit; of his origin, 
his being, his nature; and, above all, of his inclination to 
do evil, and to draw us to do so too. And the poor 
creature puzzled me once in such a manner, by a ques- 
tion merely natural and innocent, that I scarce knew 
what to say to him. I had been talking a great deal to 
him of the power of God, his omnipotence, his aversion to 
sin, his being a consuming fire to the workers of iniquity; 
how, as he had made us all, he could destroy us and all 
the world in a moment ; and he listened with great serious- 
ness to me all the while. After this, I had been telling 
him how the devil was God’s enemy in the hearts of men, 
and used all his malice and skill to defeat the good designs 
of Providence, and to ruin the kingdom of Christ in the 
world, and the like. “Well,” says Friday; “but you say 
God is so strong, so great; is he not much strong, much 
might as the devil?” “Yes, yes,” says I, “Friday; 
God is stronger than the devil. God is above the devil, 
and therefore we pray to God to tread him down under our 
feet, and to enable us to resist his temptations and quench 
his fiery darts.” “But,” says he again, “if God much 
strong, much might as the devil, why God no kill the devil, 
so make him no more do wicked?” I was strangely sur- 
prised at this question; and after all, though I was now 1 
an old man, yet I was but a young doctor, and ill qualified 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


277 


for a casuist, or solver of difficulties; and at first I could 
not tell what to say; so I pretended not to hear him, and 
asked him what he said; but he was too earnest for an 
answer to forget his question, so that he repeated it in 
the very same broken words as above. By this time I had 
recovered myself a little, and I said, “God will at last 
punish him severely; he is reserved for the judgment, and 
he is to be cast into the bottomless pit, to dwell with 
everlasting fire.” This did not satisfy Friday; but he 
returns upon me, repeating my own words, “ ‘Reserve at 
last!’ me no understand: but why not kill the devil now; 
not kill great ago?” “You may as well ask me,” said I, 
“why God does not kill you or me, when we do wicked 
things here that offend him. We are preserved to repent 
and be pardoned.” He muses awhile on this: “Well, 
well,” says he, mightily affectionately, “that well: so 
you, I, devil, all wicked, all preserve, repent, God pardon 
all.” Here I was run down by him to the last degree. 
And it was a testimony to me, how the mere notions of 
nature, though they will guide reasonable creatures to the 
knowledge of a God, and of a worship or homage due to 
the supreme being of God, as the consequence of our 
nature, yet nothing but Divine revelation can form the 
knowledge of Jesus Christ, and of redemption purchased 
for us; of a Mediator of the new covenant, and of an 
Intercessor at the footstool of Go)d’s throne; I say, 
nothing but a revelation from heaven can form these in 
the soul; and that, therefore, the gospel of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ, I mean the Word of God, and the 
Spirit of God, promised for the guide and sanctifier of his 
people, are the absolutely necessary instructors of the 


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souls of men in the saving knowledge of God and the 
means of salvation. 

I therefore diverted the present discourse between me 
and my man, rising up hastily as upon some sudden occa- 
sion of going out; then sending him for something a good 
way off, I seriously prayed to God that he would enable 
me to instruct savingly this poor savage, assisting by his 
Spirit the heart of the poor ignorant creature to receive 
the light of the knowledge of God in Christ, reconciling 
him to himself, and would guide me to speak so to him 
from the Word of God that his conscience might be con- 
vinced, his eyes opened, and his soul saved. When he 
came again to me I entered into a long discourse with him 
upon the subject of the redemption of man by the 
Saviour of the world, and of the doctrine of the gospel 
preached from heaven — viz., of repentance towards God, 
and faith in our blessed Lord Jesus. I then explained to 
him as well as I could why our blessed Redeemer took not 
on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham; 
and how, for that reason, the fallen angels had no share in 
the redemption; that he came only to the lost sheep of 
the house of Israel, and the like. 

I had, God knows, more sincerity than knowledge in 
all the methods I took for this poor creature’s instruction, 
and must acknowledge, what I believe all that act upon 
the same principle will find, that, in laying things open to 
him, I really informed and instructed myself in many 
things that I either did not know or had not fully con- 
sidered before, but which occurred naturally to my mind 
upon searching into them for the information of this poor 
savage; and I had more affection in my inquiry after 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


279 


things upon this occasion than ever I felt before; so that, 
whether this poor wild wretch was the better for me or 
no, I had reason to be thankful that ever he came to me. 
My grief sat lighter upon me; my habitation grew com- 
fortable to me beyond measure; and when I reflected that 
in this solitary life which I had been confined to, I had 
not only been moved to look up to heaven myself, and to 
seek the hand that had brought me here, but was now to 
be made an instrument, under Providence, to save the 
life, and, for aught I know, the soul of a poor savage, and 
bring him to the true knowledge of religion, and of the 
Christian doctrine, that he might know Christ Jesus, to 
know whom is life eternal. I say, when I reflected upon 
all these things, a secret joy ran through every part of 
my soul, and I frequently rejoiced that ever I was brought 
to this place, which I had so often thought the most 
dreadful of all afflictions that could possibly have be- 
fallen me. 

In this thankful frame I continued all the remainder of 
my time; and the conversations which employed the hours 
between Friday and me were such as made the three years 
which we lived there together perfectly and completely 
happy, if any such thing as complete happiness can be 
found in a sublunary state. This savage was now a good 
Christian, a much better than I ; though I have reason to 
hope, and bless God for it, that we were equally penitent, 
and comforted, restored penitents. We had here the 
word of God to read, and no farther off from His Spirit to 
instruct, than if we had been in England. I always 
applied myself, in reading the Scriptures, to let him know, 
as well as I could, the meaning of what I read; and he 


280 


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again, by his serious inquiries and questionings, made me, 
as I said before, a much better scholar in the Scripture 
knowledge than I should ever have been by my own mere 
private reading. Another thing I cannot refrain from 
observing here also, from experience in this retired part of 
my life — viz., how infinite and inexpressible a blessing it 
is that the knowledge of God, and of the doctrine of salva- 
tion by Christ Jesus, is so plainly laid down in the Word 
of God, so easy to be received and understood, that, as 
the bare reading the Scripture made me capable of under- 
standing enough of my duty to carry me directly on to 
the great work of sincere repentance for my sins, and of 
laying hold of a Saviour for life and salvation, to a stated 
reformation in practice, and obedience to all God’s com- 
mands, and this without any teacher or instructor, I 
mean human; so the same plain instruction sufficiently 
served to the enlightening of this savage creature, and 
bringing him to be such a Christian as I have known few 
equals to him in my life. 

As to the disputes, wrangling, strife, and contention 
which have happened in the world about religion, whether 
niceties in doctrines or schemes of church government, 
they were all perfectly useless to us, and, for aught I can 
yet see, they have been to the rest of the world. We had 
the sure guide to heaven, viz., the Word of God; and we 
had, blessed be God, comfortable views of the Spirit of 
God teaching and instructing us by his word, leading us 
into all truth, and making us both willing and obedient to 
the instruction of his word. And I cannot see the least 
use that the greatest knowledge of the disputed points of 
religion, which have made such confusions in the world, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


281 

would have been to us, if we could have obtained it; but 
I must go on with the historical part of things, and take 
every part in its order. 

After Friday and I became more intimately ac- 
quainted, and that he could understand almost all I 
said to him, and speak fluently, though in broken English, 
to me, I acquainted him with my own story, or at least 
so much of it as related to my coming into this place; 
how I had lived there, and how long. I let him into the 
mystery, for such it was to him, of gunpowder and bullets, 
and taught him how to shoot. I gave him a knife, with 
which he was wonderfully delighted; and I made him a 
belt, with a frog hanging to it, such as in England we 
wear hangers in ; and in the frog, instead of a hanger, I 
gave him a hatchet, which was not only as good a weapon 
in some cases, but much more useful upon many occasions. 

I described to him the countries of Europe, particu- 
larly England, which I came from; how we lived, how we 
worshiped God, how we behaved to one another, and how 
we traded in ships to all parts of the world. I gave him 
an account of the wreck which I had been on board of; 
and showed him, as near as I could, the place where she 
lay. But she was all beaten in pieces long before, and 
quite gone. I showed him the ruins of our boat, which 
we lost when we escaped, and which I could not stir with 
my whole strength then ; but was now fallen almost all to 
pieces. Upon seeing this boat, Friday stood musing a 
great while, and said nothing. I asked him what it was 
he studied upon. At last, says he, “Me see such boat 
like come to place at my nation.” I did not understand 
him a good while; but, at last, when I had examined 


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further into it, I understood by him that a boat, such as 
that had been, came on shore upon the country where he 
lived; that is, as he explained it, was driven thither by 
stress of weather. I presently imagined that some 
European ship must have been cast away upon their 
coast, and the boat might get loose and drive ashore; but 
was so dull that I never once thought of men making 
their escape from a wreck thither, much less whence they 
might come: so I only inquired after the description of 
the boat. 

Friday described the boat to me well enough; but 
brought me better to understand him when he added 
with some warmth, “We save the white mans from 
drown.” Then I presently asked if there were any white 
mans, as he called them, in the boat. “Yes,” he said; 
“the boat full of white mans.” I asked him how many. 
He told upon his fingers seventeen. I asked him then 
what became of them. He told me, “They live, they 
dwell at my nation.” 

This put new thoughts into my head ; for I presently 
imagined that these might be the men belonging to the 
ship that was cast away in the sight of my island, as I now 
called it ; and who, after the ship was struck on the rock 
and they saw her inevitably lost, had saved themselves in 
their boat, and were landed upon that wild shore among 
the savages. Upon this I inquired of him more critically 
what was become of them. He assured me they lived 
still there; that they had been there about four years; 
that the savages left them alone, and gave them victuals 
to live. I asked him how it came to pass that they did 
not kill them and eat them. He said, “No, they make 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


283 


brother with them ’ ’ ; that is, as I understood him, a truce ; 
and then he added, “They no eat mans but when make 
the war fight.” That is to say, they never eat any men 
but such as come to fight with them, and are taken in 
battle. 

It was after this some considerable time, that, being 
upon the top of the hill, at the east side of the island, from 
whence, as I have said, I had, in a clear day, discovered 
the main or continent of America, Friday, the weather 
being very serene looks very earnestly towards the main- 
land, and, in a kind of surprise, falls a-jumping and danc- 
ing, and calls out to me, for I was at some distance from 
him. I asked him what was the matter. “Oh, joy!” 
says he. “Oh, glad! There see my country, there my 
nation!” I observed an extraordinary sense of pleasure 
appeared in his face, and his eyes sparkled, and his coun- 
tenance discovered a strange eagerness, as if he had a 
mind to be in his own country again. This observation 
of mine put a great many thoughts into me, which made 
me at first not so easy about my new man Friday as I 
was before; and I made no doubt but that, if Friday 
could get back to his own nation again, he would not only 
forget all his religion, but all his obligation to me, and 
would be forward enough to give his countrymen an 
account of me, and come back, perhaps, with a hundred 
or two of them, and make a feast upon me, at which he 
might be as merry as he used to be with those of his 
enemies, when they were taken in war. But I wronged 
the poor honest creature very much, for which I was very 
sorry afterwards. However, as my jealousy increased, 
and held me some weeks, I was a little more circumspect, 


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and not so familiar and kind to him as before: in which 
I was certainly in the wrong too, the honest, grateful 
creature having no thought about it but what consisted 
with the best principles both as a religious Christian, and 
as a grateful friend; as appeared afterwards to my full 
satisfaction. 

While my jealousy of him lasted, you may be sure I 
was every day pumping him, to see if he would discover 
any of the new thoughts which I suspected were in him. 
But I found everything he said was so honest and so inno- 
cent that I could find nothing to nourish my suspicion; 
and, in spite of all my uneasiness, he made me at last 
entirely his own again; nor did he in the least perceive 
that I was uneasy, and therefore I could not suspect him 
of deceit. 

One day, walking up the same hill, but the weather 
being hazy at sea, so that we could not see the continent, 
I called to him, and said, “ Friday, do not you wish your- 
self in your own country, your own nation?” “Yes,” he 
said, “I be much O glad to be at my own nation.” ‘ ‘What 
would you do there?” said I. “Would you turn wild 
again, eat men’s flesh again, and be a savage, as you were 
before?” He looked full of concern, and shaking his head, 
said, “No, no; Friday tell them to live good; tell them 
to pray God: tell them to eat corn-bread, cattle-flesh, 
milk; no eat man again.” “Why, then,” said I to him, 
“they will kill you.” He looked grave at that, and then 
said, “No, no; they no kill me, they willing love learn.” 
He meant by this, they would be willing to learn. He 
added, they learned much of the bearded mans that came 
in the boat. Then I asked him if he would go back to 


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them. He smiled at that, and told me he could not swim 
so far. I told him I would make a canoe for him. He 
told me he would go if I would go with him. “I go!” 
says I. “ Why, they will eat me if I come there.” ‘‘No, 
no,” says he, “me make them no eat you; me make them 
much love you.” He meant, he would tell them how I 
had killed his enemies, and saved his life, and so he would 
make them love me. Then he told me, as well as he 
could, how kind they were to seventeen white men, or 
bearded men as he called them, who came on shore in 
distress. 

From this time, I confess, I had a mind to venture 
over, and see if I could possibly join with those bearded 
men, who, I made no doubt, were Spaniards or Portu- 
guese; not doubting but, if I could, we might find some 
method to escape from thence, being upon the continent, 
and a good company together, better than I could from 
an island forty miles off the shore, alone, and without help. 
So, after some days, I took Friday to work again, by way 
of discourse, and told him I would give him a boat to go 
back to his own nation; and, accordingly, I carried him 
to my frigate, which lay on the other side of the island, 
and having cleared it of water (for I always kept it sunk 
in the water), I brought it out, showed it him, and we 
both went into it. I found he was a most dexterous 
fellow at managing it and would make it go almost as 
swift and fast again as I could. So when he was in, I 
said to him, “Well, now, Friday, shall we go to your 
nation?” He looked very dull at my saying so; which it 
seems was because he thought the boat too small to go so 
far. I then told him I had a bigger; so the next day I 


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went to the place where the first boat lay which I had 
made, but which I could not get into the water. He 
said that was big enough; but then, as I had taken no 
care of it, and it had lain two or three and twenty years 
there, the sun had split and dried it, that it was rotten. 
Friday told me that such a boat would do very well, and 
would carry “much enough vittle, drink, bread”; — 
that was his way of talking. 

Upon the whole, I was by this time so fixed upon my 
design of going over with him to the continent that I told 
him we would go and make one as big as that, and he 
should go home in it. He answered not one word, but 
looked very grave and sad. I asked him what was the 
matter with him. He asked me again, “Why you angry 
mad with Friday? What me done?” I asked him what 
he meant. I told him I was not angry with him at all. 
“No angry?” says he, repeating the words several times. 
“Why send Friday home away to my nation?” “Why,” 
says I, “Friday, did not you say you wished you were 
there?” “Yes, yes,” says he, “wish we both there; no 
wish Friday there, no master there.” In a word, he 
would not think of going there without me. “ I go there, 
Friday?” says I. “What shall I do there?” He turned 
very quickly upon me at this. “ You do great deal much 
good,” says he; “you teach wild mans be good, sober, 
tame mans; you tell them know God, pray God, and live 
new life.” “Alas, Friday!” says I, “thou knowest not 
what thou sayest; I am but an ignorant man myself.” 
“Yes, yes,” says he, “you teachee me good, you teachee 
them good.” “No, no, Friday,” says I, “you shall go 
without me; leave me here to live by myself, as I did 


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before.” He looked confused again at that word; and 
running to one of his hatchets which he used to wear, he 
takes it up hastily, and gives it to me. “What must I do 
with this?” says I to him. “You take kill Friday,” says 
he. “What must I kill you for?” said I again. He 
returns very quick: “What you send Friday away for? 
Take kill Friday; no send Friday away.” This he spoke 
so earnestly that I saw tears stand in his eyes. In a 
word, I so plainly discovered the utmost affection in him 
to me, and a firm resolution in him, that I told him then, 
and often after, that I would never send him away from 
me, if he was willing to stay with me. 

Upon the whole, as I found by all his discourse a 
settled affection to me, and that nothing could part him 
from me, so I found all the foundation of his desire to go 
to his own country was laid in his ardent affection to the 
people, and his hopes of my doing them good; a thing 
which, as I had no notion of myself, so I had not the least 
thought, or intention, or desire of undertaking it. But 
still I found a strong inclination to my attempting an 
escape, founded on the supposition gathered from the 
former discourse, that there were seventeen bearded men 
there; and therefore, without any more delay, I went to 
work with Friday to find out a great tree proper to fell, 
and make a large periagua, or canoe, to undertake the 
voyage. There were trees enough in the island to have 
built a little fleet, not of periaguas or canoes, but even of 
good large vessels ; but the main thing I looked at was, to 
get one so near the water that we might launch it when it 
was made, to avoid the mistake I committed at first. At 
last, Friday pitched upon a tree; for I found he knew 


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much better than I what kind of wood was fittest for it ; 
nor can I tell, to this day, what wood to call the tree we 
cut down, except that it was very like the tree we call 
fustic, or between that and the Nicaragua wood, for it 
was much of the same color and smell. Friday was for 
burning the hollow or cavity of this tree out, to make it 
into a boat, but I showed him how rather to cut it with 
tools ; which, after I had showed him how to use, he did 
very handily; and in about a month’s hard labor we 
finished it and made it very handsome; especially, when, 
with our axes, which I showed him how to handle, we cut 
and hewed the outside into the true shape of a boat. 
After this, however, it cost us near a fortnight’s time to 
get her along, as it were, inch by inch, upon great rollers 
into the water; but when she was in, she would have 
carried twenty men with great ease. 

When she was in the water, though she was so big, it 
amazed me to see with what dexterity and how swift my 
man Friday could manage her, turn her, and paddle her 
along. So I asked him if he would, and if we might ven- 
ture over in her. “Yes,” he said; “we venture over in 
her very well, though great blow wind.” However, I 
had a farther design that he knew nothing of, and that 
was to make a mast and a sail, and to fit her with an 
anchor and cable. As to a mast, that was easy enough to 
get; so I pitched upon a straight young cedar tree, which 
I found near the place, and which there was great plenty 
of in the island, and I set Friday to work to cut it down, 
and gave him directions how to shape and order it. But 
as to the sail, that was my particular care. I knew I had 
old sails, or rather pieces of old sails, enough; but as I 


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had had them now six-and-twenty years by me, and had 
not been very careful to preserve them, not imagining 
that I should ever have this kind of use for them, I did 
not doubt but they were all rotten; and, indeed, most of 
them were so. However, I found two pieces, which 
appeared pretty good, and with these I went to work; 
and with a great deal of pains, and awkward, tedious 
stitching, you may be sure, for want of needles, I at 
length made a three-cornered ugly thing, like what we 
call in England a shoulder-of-mutton sail, to go with a 
boom at bottom, and a little short sprit at the top, such 
as usually our ships’ longboats sail with, and such as I 
best knew how to manage, because it was such a one as 
I used in the boat in which I made my escape from 
Barbary, as related in the first part of my story. 

I was near *wo months performing this last work — 
viz., rigging and fitting my mast and sails; for I finished 
them very complete, making a small stay, and a sail or 
foresail to it, to assist if we should turn to windward; 
and, which was more than all, I fixed a rudder to the stern 
of her to steer with. And though I was but a bungling 
shipwright, yet as I knew the usefulness, and even the 
necessity of such a thing, I applied myself with so much 
pains to do it that at last I brought it to pass; though, 
considering the many dull contrivances I had for it that 
failed, I think it cost me almost as much labor as making 
the boat. 

After all this was done, I had my man Friday to teach 
as to what belonged to the navigation of my boat; for, 
though he knew very well how to paddle the canoe, he 
knew nothing of what belonged to a sail and a rudder; 


19 


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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


and was the most amazed when he saw me work the boat 
to and again in the sea by the rudder, and how the sail 
gibbed, and filled this way or that way, as the course we 
sailed changed; I say, when he saw this, he stood like 
one astonished and amazed. However, with a little use 
I made all these things familiar to him, and he became an 
expert sailor, except that as to the compass I could make 
him understand very little of that. On the other hand, 
as there was very little cloudy weather, and seldom or 
never any fogs in those parts, there was the less occasion 
for the compass, seeing the stars were always to be seen 
by night, and the shore by day, except in the rainy 
seasons, and then nobody cared to stir abroad either by 
land or sea. 

I was now entered on the seven-and-twentieth year of 
my captivity in this place; though the three last years 
that I had this creature with me ought rather to be left 
out of the account, my habitation being quite of another 
kind than in all the rest of my time. I kept the anniver- 
sary of my landing here with the same thankfulness to 
God for his mercies as at first : and if I had such cause of 
acknowledgment at first, I had much more so now, hav- 
ing such additional testimonies of the care of Providence 
over me, and the great hopes I had of being effectually 
and speedily delivered ; for I had an invincible impression 
upon my thoughts that my deliverance was at hand, and 
that I should not be another year in this place. How- 
ever, I went on with my husbandry, digging, planting, 
and fencing as usual. I gathered and cured my grapes, 
and did every necessary thing as before. 

The rainy season was in the meantime upon me, when 



Nor can I tell , to this day , what wood to call the tree we cut down 



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291 


I kept more within doors than at other times. We had 
stowed our new vessel as secure as we could, bringing her 
up into the creek, where, as I said in the beginning, I 
landed my rafts from the ship ; and hauling her up to the 
shore at high-water mark, I made my man Friday dig a 
little dock, just big enough to hold her, and just deep 
enough to give her water enough to float in; and then, 
when the tide was out, we made a strong dam across the 
end of it, to keep the water out ; and so she lay dry as to 
the tide from the sea : and to keep the rain off we laid a 
great many boughs of trees, so thick that she was as well 
thatched as a house ; and thus we waited for the months 
of November and December, in which I designed to make 
my adventure. 

When the settled season began to come in, as the 
thought of my design returned with the fair weather, I 
was preparing daily for the voyage. And the first thing 
I did was to lay by a certain quantity of provisions, being 
the stores for our voyage; and intended, in a week or a 
fortnight’s time, to open the dock and launch out our boat. 
I was busy one morning upon something of this kind 
when I called to Friday, and bid him go to the seashore 
and see if he could find a turtle or tortoise, a thing which 
we generally got once a week, for the sake of the eggs as 
well as the flesh. Friday had not been gone long when 
he came running back, and flew over my outer wall, or 
fence, like one that felt not the ground, or the steps he 
set his feet on; and before I had time to speak to him, he 
cries out to me, “O master! O master! O sorrow! O 
bad!” “What’s the matter, Friday?” said I. “Oh! 
yonder, there,” says he; “one, two, three canoes; one, 


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two, three!” By this way of speaking, I concluded there 
were six; but on inquiry I found there were but three. 
“Well, Friday,” says I, “do not be frightened.” So I 
heartened him up as well as I could. However, I saw the 
poor fellow was most terribly scared, for nothing ran in 
his head but that they were come back to look for him, 
and would cut him in pieces and eat him; and the poor 
fellow trembled so that I scarcely knew what to do with 
him. I comforted him as well as I could, and told him I 
was in as much danger as he, and that they would eat me 
as well as him. “ But,” said I, “Friday, we must resolve 
to fight them. Can you fight, Friday?” “ Me shoot,” says 
he; “but there come many great number.” “No matter 
for that,” said I, again; “our guns will fright them that 
we do not kill.” So I asked him whether, if I resolved to 
defend him, he would defend me, and stand by me, and 
do just as I bid him. He said, “Me die when you bid 
die, master.” So I went and fetched a good dram of rum 
and gave him; for I had been so good a husband of my 
rum that I had a great deal left. When he had drunk it, 
I made him take the two fowling pieces, which we always 
carried, and load them with large swanshot, as big as 
small pistol bullets. Then I took four muskets, and 
loaded them with two slugs and five small bullets each; 
and my two pistols I loaded with a brace of bullets each. 
I hung my great sword, as usual, naked by my side, and 
gave Friday his hatchet. When I had thus prepared 
myself, I took my perspective glass and went up to the 
side of the hill, to see what I could discover; and I found 
quickly by my glass that there were one-and-twenty 
savages, three prisoners, and three canoes; and that their 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


293 


whole business seemed to be the triumphant banquet 
upon these three human bodies — a barbarous feast 
indeed, but nothing more than, as I had observed, was 
usual with them. I observed also that they landed, not 
where they had done when Friday made his escape, 
but nearer to my creek, where the shore was low, and 
where a thick wood came close almost down to the sea. 
This, with the abhorrence of the inhuman errand these 
wretches came about, filled me with such indignation that 
I came down again to Friday, and told him I was resolved 
to go down to them, and kill them all; and asked him if 
he would stand by me. He had now got over his fright 
and his spirits being a little raised with the dram I had 
given him, he was very cheerful, and told me, as before, 
he would die when I bade him die. 

In this fit of fury I took first and divided between 
us the arms which I had charged, as before ; I gave Friday 
one pistol to stick in his girdle, and three guns upon his 
shoulders, and I took one pistol and the other three 
myself; and in this posture we marched out. I took a 
small bottle of rum in my pocket, and gave Friday a large 
bag with more powder and bullets; and as to orders, I 
charged him to keep close behind me, and not to stir, or 
shoot, or do anything till I bid him, and in the meantime 
not to speak a word. In this posture I fetched a compass 
to my right hand of near a mile, as well to get over the 
creek as to get into the wood, so that I might come 
within shot of them before I should be discovered, which 
I had seen by my glass it was easy to do. 

While I was making this march, my former thoughts 
returning, I began to abate my resolution — I do not 


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mean that I entertained any fear of their number, for, as 
they were naked, unarmed wretches, it is certain I was 
superior to them — nay, though I had been alone. But 
it occurred to my thoughts, what call, what occasion, 
much less what necessity, I was in to go and dip my hands 
in blood, to attack people who had neither done nor 
intended me any wrong? — who, as to me, were innocent, 
and whose barbarous customs were their own disaster, 
being in them a token, indeed, of God’s having left them, 
with the other nations of that part of the world, to such 
stupidity, and to such inhuman courses, but did not call 
me to take upon me to be a judge of their actions, much 
less an executioner of his justice — that whenever he 
thought fit he would take the cause into his own hands, 
and by national vengeance punish them for national 
crimes; but that, in the meantime, it was none of my 
business — that it was true Friday might justify it, 
because he was a declared enemy, and in a state of war 
with those very particular people, and it was lawful for 
him to attack them; but I could not say the same with 
regard to myself. These things were so warmly pressed 
upon my thoughts all the way as I went that I resolved I 
would only go and place myself near them that I might 
observe their barbarous feast, and that I would act then 
as God should direct; and that unless something offered 
that was more a call to me than yet I knew of, I would 
not meddle with them. 

With this resolution I entered the wood, and with all 
possible wariness and silence, Friday following close at 
my heels, I marched till I came to the skirt of the wood on 
the side which was next to them, only that one corner of 


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295 


the wood lay oetween me and them. Here I called softly 
to Friday, and showing him a great tree, which was just 
at the corner of the wood, I bade him go to the tree, and 
bring me word if he could see there plainly what they 
were doing. He did so, and came immediately back to 
me and told me they might be plainly viewed there — that 
they were all about their fire, eating the flesh of one of 
their prisoners, and that another lay bound upon the sand 
a little from them, whom he said they would kill next; 
and this fired the very soul within me. He told me it 
was not one of their nation, but one of the bearded men 
whom he had told me of that came to their country in a 
boat. I was filled with horror at the very naming of the 
white, bearded man, and going to the tree, I saw plainly 
by my glass a white man, who lay upon the beach of the 
sea with his hands and feet tied with flags, or things like 
rushes, and that he was a European and had clothes on. 

There was another tree, and a little thicket beyond it, 
about fifty yards nearer to them than the place where I 
was, which by going a little way about I saw I might come 
at undiscovered, and that then I should be within half a 
shot of them; so I withheld my passion, though I was 
indeed enraged to the highest degree. And going back 
about twenty paces, I got behind some bushes, which 
held all the way till I came to the other tree, and then 
came to a little rising ground, which gave me a full view 
of them at the distance of about eighty yards. 

I had now not a moment to lose, for nineteen of the 
dreadful wretches sat upon the ground, all close huddled 
together, and had just sent the other two to butcher the 
poor Christian, and bring him perhaps limb by limb to 


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their fire, and they were stooping down to untie the bands 
at his feet. I turned to Friday. “Now, Friday,” said I, 
“do as I bid thee.” Friday said he would. “Then, 
Friday,” said I, “do exactly as you see me do; fail in 
nothing.” So I set down one of the muskets and the 
fowling piece upon the ground, and Friday did the like by 
his, and with the other musket I took my aim at the 
savages, bidding him do the like; then asking him if he 
was ready, he said, “Yes.” “Then fire at them,” said I; 
and at the same moment I fired also. 

Friday took his aim so much better than I that on the 
side that he shot he killed two of them, and wounded 
three more; and on my side I killed one, and wounded 
two. They were, you may be sure, in a dreadful con- 
sternation; and all of them that were not hurt jumped 
upon their feet, but did not immediately know which 
way to run, or which way to look, for they knew not from 
whence their destruction came. Friday kept his eye 
close upon me, that, as I had bid him, he might observe 
what I did ; so, as soon as the first shot was made, I threw 
down the piece, and took up the fowling piece, and Friday 
did the like ; he saw me cock and present ; he did the same 
again. “Are you ready, Friday?” said I. “Yes,” says 
he. “Let fly, then,” said I, “in the name of God!” and 
with that I fired again among the amazed wretches, and 
so did Friday; and as our pieces were now loaded with 
what I call swanshot, or small pistol-bullets, we found 
only two drop ; but so many were wounded that they ran 
about yelling and screaming like mad creatures, all 
bloody, and most of them miserably wounded; whereof 
three more fell quickly after, though not quite dead. 


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“Now, Friday,” said I, laying down the discharged 
pieces, and taking up the musket which was yet loaded, 
“follow me,” which he did with a great deal of courage; 
upon which I rushed out of the wood and showed myself, 
and Friday close at my foot. As soon as I perceived they 
saw me, I shouted as loud as I could, and bade Friday do 
so too, and running as fast as I could, which by the way 
was not very fast, being loaded with arms as I was, I 
made directly toward the poor victim, who was, as I said, 
lying upon the beach or shore, between the place where 
they sat and the sea. The two butchers who were just 
going to work with him had left him at the surprise of our 
first fire, and fled in a terrible fright to the seaside, and 
had jumped into a canoe, and three more of the rest made 
the same way. I turned to Friday, and bade him step 
forward and fire at them ; he understood me immediately, 
and running about forty yards to be nearer them, he shot 
at them; and I thought he killed them all, for I saw them 
all fall of a heap into the boat, though I saw two of them 
up again quickly; however, he killed two of them, and 
wounded the third so that he lay down in the bottom of 
the boat as if he had been dead. 

While my man Friday fired at them I pulled out my 
knife and cut the flags that bound the poor victim; and 
loosing his hands and feet I lifted him up, and asked him, 
in the Portuguese tongue, what he was. He answered, 
in Latin, Christianus, but was so weak and faint that he 
could scarce stand or speak. I took my bottle out of my 
pocket and gave it him, making signs that he should 
drink, which he did; and I gave him a piece of bread, 
which he ate. Then I asked him what countryman he 


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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


was, and he said Espagnole; and being a little recovered, 
let me know, by all the signs he could possibly make, how 
much he was in my debt for his deliverance. ‘ ‘ Seignior, ’ ’ 
said I, with as much Spanish as I could make up, “we 
will talk afterwards, but we must fight now; if you have 
any strength left, take this pistol and sword, and lay 
about you.” He took them very thankfully; and no 
sooner had he the arms in his hands, but, as if they had 
put new vigor into him, he flew upon his murderers like a 
fury, and had cut two of them in pieces in an instant; for 
the truth is, as the whole was a surprise to them, so the 
poor creatures were so much frightened with the noise of 
our pieces that they fell down for mere amazement and 
fear, and had no more power to attempt their own escape 
than their flesh had to resist our shot. And that was the 
case of those five that Friday shot at in the boat; for as 
three of them fell with the hurt they received, so the other 
two fell with the fright. 

I kept my piece in my hand, still without firing, being 
willing to keep my charge ready, because I had given the 
Spaniard my pistol and sword ; so I called to Friday, and 
bade him run up to the tree from whence we first fired, 
and fetch the arms which lay there that had been dis- 
charged, which he did with great swiftness; and then giv- 
ing him my musket, I sat down myself to load all the rest 
again, and bade them come to me when they wanted. 
While I was loading these pieces, there happened a fierce 
engagement between the Spaniard and one of the savages, 
who made at him with one of their great wooden swords, 
the same weapon that was to have killed him before if I 
had not prevented it. The Spaniard, who was as bold 


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299 


and" brave as could be imagined, though weak, had fought 
this Indian a good while, and had cut two great wounds 
on his head; but the savage being a stout lusty fellow, 
closing in with him, had thrown him down, being faint, 
and was wringing my sword out of his hand, when the 
Spaniard, though undermost, wisely quitted the sword, 
drew the pistol from his girdle, shot the savage through 
the body, and killed him upon the spot, before I, who was 
running to help him, could come near him. 

Friday, being now left to his liberty, pursued the flying 
wretches, with no weapon in his hand but his hatchet; 
and with that he dispatched those three who, as I said 
before, were wounded at first, and fallen, and all the rest 
he could come up with : and the Spaniard coming to me 
for a gun, I gave him one of the fowling pieces, with which 
he pursued two of the savages, and wounded them both; 
but, as he was not able to run, they both got from him 
into the wood, where Friday pursued them, and killed one 
of them, but the other was too nimble for him ; and though 
he was wounded, yet had plunged himself into the sea, 
and swam with all his might off to those two who were left 
in the canoe; which three in the canoe, with one wounded, 
that we knew not whether he died or no, were all that 
escaped our hands, of one-and-twenty. The account of 
the whole is as follows: Three killed at our first shot from 
the tree; two killed at the next shot; two killed by 
Friday in the boat; two killed by Friday, of those at first 
wounded; one killed by Friday in the wood; three killed 
by the Spaniard; four killed, being found dropped here 
and there, of the wounds, or killed by Friday in his chase 
of them ; four escaped in the boat, whereof one wounded 
if not dead — twenty-one, in all. 


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Those that were in the canoe worked hard to get out 
of gunshot, and though Friday made two or three shots at 
them, I did not find that he hit any of them. Friday 
would fain have had me take one of their canoes, and 
pursue them; and, indeed, I was very anxious about their 
escape, lest, carrying the news home to their people, they 
should come back perhaps with two or three hundred of 
the canoes, and devour us by mere multitude; so I con- 
sented to pursue them by sea, and running to one of their 
canoes, I jumped in, and bade Friday follow me; but 
when I was in the canoe, I was surprised to find another 
poor creature lying there, bound hand and foot, as the 
Spaniard was, for the slaughter, and almost dead with 
fear, not knowing what was the matter; for he had not 
been able to look up over the side of the boat. He was 
tied so hard, neck and heels, and had been tied so long, 
that he had really little life in him. 

I immediately cut the twisted flags or rushes, which 
they had bound him with, and would have helped him up, 
but he could not stand or speak, but groaned most 
piteously, believing, it seems, still, that he was only 
unbound in order to be killed. When Friday came to 
him I bade him speak to him, and tell him of his deliver- 
ance, and pulling out my bottle, made him give the poor 
wretch a dram; which, with the news of his being de- 
livered, revived him, and he sat up in the boat. But 
when Friday came to hear him speak, and look in his face, 
it would have moved any one to tears to have seen how 
Friday kissed him, embraced him, hugged him, cried, 
laughed, hallooed, jumped about, danced, sung; then 
cried again, wrung his hands, beat his own face and head ; 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


301 


and then sung and jumped about again like a distracted 
creature. It was a good while before I could make him 
speak to me, or tell me what was the matter; but when he 
came a little to himself he told me that it was his father. 

It is not easy for me to express how it moved me to see 
what ecstasy and filial affection had worked in this poor 
savage at the sight of his father, and of his being delivered 
from death; nor, indeed, can I describe half the extrava- 
gances of his affection after this; for he went into the boat, 
and out of the boat, a great many times. When he went 
in to him he would sit down by him, open his breast, and 
hold his father’s head close to his bosom half an hour 
together, to nourish it ; then he took his arms and ankles, 
which were numbed and stiff with the binding, and chafed 
and rubbed them with his hands; and I, perceiving what 
the case was, gave him some rum out of my bottle to rub 
them with, which did them a great deal of good. 

This action put an end to our pursuit of the canoe 
with the other savages, who were now gotten almost out 
of sight; and it was happy for us that we did not, for it 
blew so hard within two hours after, and before they could 
be got a quarter of their way, and continued blowing so 
hard all night, and that from the northwest, which was 
against them, that I could not suppose their boat could 
live, or that they ever reached their own coast. 

But to return to Friday. He was so busy about his 
father that I could not find in my heart to take him off for 
some time; but after I thought he could leave him a little 
I called him to me, and he came jumping and laughing, 
and pleased to the highest extreme. Then I asked him if 
he had given his father any bread. He shook his head, 


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and said, “None; ugly dog eat all up self.” I then gave 
him a cake of bread, out of a little pouch I carried on pur- 
pose. I also gave him a dram for himself; but he would 
not taste it, but carried it to his father. I had in my 
pocket also two or three bunches of raisins, so I gave him 
a handful of them for his father. He had no sooner given 
his father these raisins but I saw him come out of the boat, 
and run away as if he had been bewitched, for he was the 
swiftest fellow on his feet that ever I saw. I say, he ran 
at such a rate that he was out of sight, as it were, in an 
instant; and though I called, and hallooed out, too, after 
him, it was all one — away he went; and in a quarter of 
an hour I saw him come back again, though not so fast as 
he went; and, as he came nearer, I found his pace slacker, 
because he had something in his hand. When he came up 
to me, I found he had been quite home for an earthen jug 
or pot, to bring his father some fresh water, and that he 
had got two more cakes or loaves of bread : the bread he 
gave me, but the water he carried to his father; however, 
as I was very thirsty too, I took a little sip of it. This 
water revived his father more than all the rum or spirits 
I had given him, for he was just fainting with thirst. 

When his father had drunk, I called to him to know if 
there was any water left; he said “ Yes ” ; and I bade him 
give it to the poor Spaniard, who was in as much want of 
it as his father. And I sent one of the cakes, that Friday 
brought, to the Spaniard too, who was indeed very weak, 
and was reposing himself upon a green place under the 
shade of a tree; and whose limbs were also very stiff, and 
very much swelled with the rude bandage he had been tied 
with. When I saw that upon Friday’s coming to him with 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


303 


the water he sat up and drank, and took the bread and be- 
gan to eat, I went to him and gave him a handful of raisins. 
He looked up in my face with all the tokens of gratitude 
and thankfulness that could appear in any countenance; 
but was so weak, notwithstanding he had so exerted him- 
self in the fight, that he could not stand up upon his feet. 
He tried to do it two or three times, but was really not 
able, his ankles were so swelled and so painful to him. 
So I bade him sit still, and caused Friday to rub his 
ankles, and bathe them with rum, as he had done his 
father’s. 

I observed the poor affectionate creature every two 
minutes, or perhaps less, all the while he was here, turned 
his head about to see if his father was in the same place 
and posture as he left him sitting; and at last he found he 
was not to be seen; at which he started up, and, without 
speaking a word, flew with that swiftness to him that one 
could scarce perceive his feet to touch the ground as he 
went : but when he came, he only found he had laid him- 
self down to ease his limbs, so Friday came back to me 
presently. And I then spoke to the Spaniard to let 
Friday help him up, if he could, and lead him to the boat, 
and then he should carry him to our dwelling, where I 
would take care of him. But Friday, a lusty young 
fellow, took the Spaniard quite up upon his back, and 
carried him away to the boat, and set him down softly 
upon the side or gunwale of the canoe, with his feet in the 
inside of it ; and then lifted him quite in, and set him close 
to his father; and presently stepping out again, launched 
the boat off, and paddled it along the shore faster than I 
could walk, though the wind blew pretty hard too. So 


304 


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he brought them both safe into our creek, and, leaving 
them in the boat, runs away to fetch the other canoe. As 
he passed me I spoke to him, and asked him whither he 
went. He told me, “Go fetch more boat”; so away he 
went like the wind, for sure never man or horse ran like 
him; and he had the other canoe in the creek almost as 
soon as I got to it by land. So he wafted me over, and 
then went to help our new guests out of the boat, which 
he did; but they were neither of them able to walk; so 
that poor Friday knew not what to do. 

To remedy this I went to work in my thought, and 
calling to Friday to bid them sit down on the bank while 
he came to me, I soon made a kind of hand-barrow to lay 
them on, and Friday and I between us carried them up 
both together upon it. 

But when we got them to the outside of our wall, or 
fortification, we were at a worse loss than before, for it 
was impossible to get them over, and I was resolved not 
to break it down; so I set to work again, and Friday and 
I, in about two hours’ time, made a very handsome tent, 
covered with old sails, and above that with boughs of 
trees, being in the space without our outward fence, and 
between that and the grove of young wood which I had 
planted; and here we made them two beds of such things 
as I had, viz., of good rice straw, with blankets laid upon 
it, to lie on, and another to cover them, on each bed. 

My island was now peopled, and I thought myself very 
rich in subjects; and it was a merry reflection, which I 
frequently made, how like a king I looked. First of all, 
the whole country was my own mere property, so that I 
had an undoubted right of dominion. Secondly, my 


I went to him and gave him a handful of raisins 





. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


305 


people were perfectly subjected; I was absolutely lord 
and lawgiver. They all owed their lives to me, and were 
ready to lay down their lives, if there had been occasion 
for it, for me. It was remarkable, too, I had but three 
subjects, and they were of three different religions: my 
man Friday was a Protestant, his father was a Pagan and 
a cannibal, and the Spaniard was a Papist. However, I 
allowed liberty of conscience throughout my dominion. 
But this is by the way. 

As soon as I had secured my two weak, rescued pris- 
oners, and given them shelter and a place to rest them 
upon, I began to think of making some provisions for 
them. And the first thing I did, I ordered Friday to take 
a yearling goat, betwixt a kid and a goat, out of my 
particular flock, to be killed; when I cut off the hinder 
quarter, and chopping it into small pieces, I set Friday to 
work to boiling and stewing, and made them a very good 
dish, I assure you, of flesh and broth, having put some 
barley and rice also into the broth; and as I cooked it 
without doors, for I made no fire within my inner wall, so 
I carried it all into the new tent, and having set a table 
there for them, I sat down, and ate my own dinner also 
with them, and, as well as I could, cheered them and 
encouraged them. Friday was my interpreter, especially 
to his father, and, indeed, to the Spaniard too; for the 
Spaniard spoke the language of the savages pretty well. 

After we had dined, or rather supped, I ordered Friday 
to take one of the canoes and go and fetch our muskets 
and other firearms, which, for want of time, we had left 
upon the place of battle; and, the next day, I ordered 
him to go and bury the dead bodies of the savages, which 


20 


3°6 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


lay open to the sun, and would presently be offensive. I 
also ordered him to bury the horrid remains of their bar- 
barous feast, which I could not think of doing myself; 
nay, I could not bear to see them, if I went that way; all 
which he punctually performed, and effaced the very 
appearance of the savages being there; so that when I 
went again I could scarce know where it was, otherwise 
than by the corner of the wood pointing to the place. 

I then began to enter into a little conversation with 
my two new subjects; and, first, I set Friday to inquire 
of his father what he thought of the escape of the savages 
in that canoe, and whether we might expect a return of 
them, with a power too great for us to resist. His first 
opinion was that the savages in the boat could never 
live out the storm which blew that night they went off, 
but must, of necessity, be drowned, or driven south to 
those other shores, where they were as sure to be devoured 
as they were to be drowned if they were cast away. 
But as to what they would do if they came safe on shore, 
he said he knew not; but it was his opinion that they 
were so dreadfully frightened with the manner of their 
being attacked, the noise and the fire, that he believed 
they would tell the people they were all killed by thunder 
and lightning, not by the hand of men; and that the 
two which appeared, viz., Friday and I, were two heavenly 
spirits, or furies, come down to destroy them, and not 
men with weapons. This he said he knew because he 
heard them all cry out so, in their language, one to 
another. For it was impossible for them to conceive 
that a man could dart fire, and speak thunder, and kill 
at a distance without lifting up the hand, as was done 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


307 


now. And this old savage was in the right; for, as I 
understood since, by other hands, the savages never 
attempted to go over to the island afterwards. They 
were so terrified with the accounts given by those four 
men (for it seems they did escape the sea), that they 
believed whoever went to that enchanted island would 
be destroyed with fire from the gods. This, however, 
I knew not, and therefore was under continual appre- 
hension for a good while, and kept always upon my 
guard, I and all my army; for, as we were now four of 
us, I would have ventured upon a hundred of them, 
fairly in the open field, at any time. 

In a little time, however, no more canoes appearing, 
the fear of their coming wore off; and I began to take 
my former thoughts of a voyage to the main into con- 
sideration; being likewise assured by Friday’s father 
that I might depend upon good usage from their nation, 
on his account, if I would go. But my thoughts were a 
little suspended when I had a serious discourse with the 
Spaniard, and when I understood that there were sixteen 
more of his countrymen and Portuguese, who, having 
been cast away and made their escape to that side, lived 
there at peace, indeed, with the savages, but were very 
sore put to it for necessaries, and, indeed, for life. I 
asked him all the particulars of their voyage, and found 
they were from a Spanish ship, bound from the Rio de la 
Plata to the Havanna, being directed to leave their 
loading there, which was chiefly hides and silver, and to 
bring back what European goods they could meet with 
there; that they had five Portuguese seamen on board, 
whom they took out of another wreck; that five of their 


3°8 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


own men were drowned when first the ship was lost, 
and that these escaped through infinite danger and 
hazards, and arrived, almost starved, on the cannibal 
coast, where they expected to have been devoured every 
moment. He told me that they had some arms with 
them, but they were perfectly useless, for they had 
neither powder nor ball, the washing of the sea having 
spoiled all their powder but a little, which they used, 
at their first landing, to provide themselves some food. 

I asked him what he thought would become of them 
there, and if they had formed no design of making any 
escape. He said they had many consultations about it; 
but that having neither vessel, nor tools to build one, 
nor provisions of any kind, their councils always ended 
in tears and despair. I asked him how he thought they 
would receive a proposal from me, which might tend 
towards an escape; and whether, if they were all here, 
it might not be done. I told him with freedom I feared 
mostly their treachery and ill-usage of me, if I put 
my life in their hands ; for that gratitude was no inherent 
virtue in the nature of man, nor did men always square 
their dealings by the obligations they had received so 
much as they did by the advantages they expected. I 
told him it would be very hard that I should be the 
instrument of their deliverance, and that they should 
afterwards make me their prisoner in New Spain, where 
an Englishman was certain to be made a sacrifice, what 
necessity or what accident soever brought him thither; 
and that I had rather be delivered up to the savages, 
and be devoured alive, than fall into the merciless claws 
of the priests, and be carried into the Inquisition. I 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


309 


added that, otherwise, I was persuaded, if they were all 
here, we might, with so many hands, build a bark large 
enough to carry us all away, either to the Brazils south- 
ward, or to the islands or Spanish coast northward; 
but that if, in requital, they should, when I had put 
weapons into their hands, carry me by force among their 
own people I might be ill used for my kindness to them, 
and make my case worse than it was before. 

He answered, with a great deal of candor and ingenu- 
ousness, that their condition was so miserable, and that 
they were so sensible of it, that he believed they would 
abhor the thought of using any man unkindly that should 
contribute to their deliverance; and that, if I pleased, 
he would go to them, with the old man, and discourse 
with them about it and return again, and bring me their 
answer^ that he would make conditions with them, upon 
their solemn oath, that they should be absolutely under 
my direction as their commander and captain; and they 
should swear upon the holy sacrament and gospel to 
be true to me, and go to such Christian country as I 
should agree to, and no other; and to be directed wholly 
and absolutely by my orders till they were landed safely 
in such country as I intended; and that he would bring 
a contract from them, under their hands, for that purpose. 
Then he told me he would first swear to me himself that 
he would never stir from me as long as he lived till I 
gave him orders; and that he would take my side to 
the last drop of his blood if there should happen the 
least breach of faith among his countrymen. He told 
me they were all of them very civil, honest men, and 
they were under the greatest distress imaginable, having 


3io 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


neither weapons nor clothes, nor any food, but at the 
mercy and discretion of the savages, out of all hopes of 
ever returning to their own country; and that he was 
sure, if I would undertake their relief, they would live 
and die by me. 

Upon these assurances I resolved to venture to relieve 
them, if possible, and to send the old savage and this 
Spaniard over to them to treat. But when we had got 
all things in readiness to go, the Spaniard himself started 
an objection, which had so much prudence in it on one 
hand, and so much sincerity on the other hand, that I 
could not but be very well satisfied in it; and, by his 
advice, put off the deliverance of his comrades for at 
least half a year. The case was thus: he had been with 
us now about a month, during which time I had let him 
see in what manner I had provided, with the assistance 
of Providence, for my support; and he saw evidently 
what stock of corn and rice I had laid up ; which, though 
it was more than sufficient for myself, yet it was not 
sufficient, without good husbandry, for my family, now 
it was increased to four; but much less would it be 
sufficient if his countrymen, who were, as he said, four- 
teen, still alive, should come over; and, least of all 
would it be sufficient to victual our vessel, if we should 
build one, for a voyage to any of the Christian colonies 
of America. So he told me he thought it would be more 
advisable to let him and the other two dig and cultivate 
some more land, as much as I could spare seed to sow, 
and that we should wait another harvest, that we might 
have a supply of corn for his countrymen when they 
should come. For want might be a temptation to 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3n 

them to disagree, or not to think themselves delivered 
otherwise than out of one difficulty into another. “You 
know,” says he, “the children of Israel, though they 
rejoiced at first for their being delivered out of Egypt, 
yet rebelled even against God himself, that delivered 
them, when they came to want bread in the wilderness.” 

His caution was so seasonable, and his advice so 
good, that I could not be but very well pleased with his 
proposal, as well as I was satisfied with his fidelity. So 
we fell to digging, all four of us, as well as the wooden 
tools we were furnished with permitted; and in about 
a month’s time, by the end of which it was seed time, 
we had got as much land cured and trimmed up as we 
sowed two and twenty bushels of barley on, and sixteen 
jars of rice, which was, in short, all the seed we had to 
spare; indeed, we left ourselves barely sufficient for our 
own food for the six months that we had to expect our 
crop ; that is to say, reckoning from the time we set our 
seed aside for sowing; for it is not to be supposed it is 
six months in the ground in that country. 

Having now society enough, and our number being 
sufficient to put us out of fear of the savages if they had 
come, unless their number had been very great, we went 
freely all over the island, whenever we found occasion. 
And as we had our escape or deliverance upon our 
thoughts, it was impossible, at least for me, to have the 
means of it out of mine. For this purpose, I marked 
out several trees which I thought fit for our work, and 
I set Friday and his father to cut them down; and then 
I caused the Spaniard, to whom I imparted my thoughts 
on that affair, to oversee and direct their work. I 


312 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


showed them with what indefatigable pains I had hewed 
a large tree into single planks, and I caused them to do 
the like, till they had made about a dozen large planks 
of good oak, near two feet broad, thirty-five feet long, 
and from two inches to four inches thick; what prodi- 
gious labor it took up, any one may imagine. 

At the same time, I contrived to increase my little 
stock of tame goats as much as I could; and for this 
purpose I made Friday and the Spaniard go out one 
day, and myself with Friday the next day (for we took 
our turns), and by this means we got about twenty young 
kids to breed up with the rest; for whenever we shot 
the dam we saved the kids and added them to our flock. 
But, above all, the season for curing the grapes coming 
on, I caused such a prodigious quantity to be hung up 
in the sun, that, I believe, had we been at Alicant, 
where the raisins of the sun are cured, we could have 
filled sixty or eighty barrels; and these, with our bread, 
formed a great part of our food — very good living too, I 
assure you, for they are exceedingly nourishing. 

It was now harvest, and our crop in good order. It 
was not the most plentiful increase I had seen in the 
island, but, however, it was enough to answer our end; 
for, from twenty-two bushels of barley we brought in 
and thrashed out above two hundred and twenty bushels; 
and the like in proportion of the rice; which was store 
enough for our food to the next harvest, though all the 
sixteen Spaniards had been on shore with me. Or, if 
we had been ready for a voyage, it would very plentifully 
have victualed our ship to have carried us to any part 
of the world, that is to say, of America. When we had 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3i3 


thus housed and secured our magazine of corn we fell 
to work to make more wickerwork, viz., great baskets, 
in which we kept it; and the Spaniard was very handy 
and dexterous at this part, and often blamed me that I 
did not make some things for defense of this kind of work; 
but I saw no need of it. 

And now, having a full supply of food for all the guests 
expected, I gave the Spaniard leave to go over the main, 
to see what he could do with those he had left behind him 
there. I gave him a strict charge not to bring any man 
with him who would not first swear, in the presence of 
himself and the old savage, that he would no way injure, 
fight with, or attack the person he should find in the 
island, who was so kind as to send for them in order to 
their deliverance; but that they would stand by him 
and defend him against all such attempts, and wherever 
they went would be entirely under and subjected to 
his command; and that this should be put in writing, and 
signed with their hands. How they were to have done 
this, when I knew they had neither pen nor ink — that, 
indeed, was a question which we never asked. Under 
these instructions the Spaniard and the old savage, 
the father of Friday, went away in one of the canoes 
which they might be said to have come in, or rather 
were brought in, when they came as prisoners to be de- 
voured by the savages. I gave each of them a musket with 
a firelock on it, and about eight charges of powder and 
ball, charging them to be very good husbands of both, 
and not to use either of them but upon urgent occasion. 

This was a cheerful work, being the first measures 
used by me, in view of my deliverance, for now twenty- 


314 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


seven years and some days. I gave them provisions 
of bread, and of dried grapes, sufficient for themselves 
for many days, and sufficient for all the Spaniards for 
about eight days’ time; and wishing them a good voyage, 
I saw them go, agreeing with them about a signal they 
should hang out at their return, by which I should know 
them again, when they came back, at a distance, before 
they came on shore. They went away, with a fair gale, 
on the day the moon was at full, by my account in the 
month of October; but as for an exact reckoning of days, 
after I had once lost it I could never recover it again; 
nor had I kept even the number of years so punctually 
as to be sure I was right, though, as it proved, when I 
afterwards examined my account, I found I had kept 
a true reckoning of years. 

It was no less than eight days I had waited for them, 
when a strange and unforeseen accident intervened, of 
which the like has not, perhaps, been heard of in history. 
I was fast asleep in my hutch one morning when my man 
Friday came running in to me, and called aloud, “ Master, 
master, they are come, they are come!” I jumped up, 
and, regardless of danger, I went out as soon as I could 
get my clothes on, through my little grove, which, by 
the way, was by this time grown to be a very thick 
wood. I say, regardless of danger, I went without my 
arms, which was not my custom to do; but I was sur- 
prised, when, turning my eyes to sea, I presently saw a 
boat at about a league and a half distance, standing in 
for the shore, with a shoulder-of -mutton sail, as they call 
it, and the wind blowing pretty fair to bring them in: 
also I observed, presently, that they did not come from 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3i5 


that side which the shore lay on, but from the southern- 
most end of the island. Upon this I called Friday in, 
and bade him lie close, for these were not the people we 
looked for, and that we might not know yet whether 
they were friends or enemies. In the next place, I 
went in to fetch my perspective glass, to see what I 
could make of them; and, having taken the ladder out, 
I climbed up to the top of the hill, as I used to do when I 
was apprehensive of anything, and to take my view 
plainer, without being discovered. I had scarce set 
my foot upon the hill when my eye plainly discovered a 
ship lying at an anchor, at about two leagues and a half 
distance from me, S.S.E., but not above a league and a 
half from the shore. By my observation, it appeared 
plainly to be an English ship, and the boat appeared to 
be an English longboat. 

I cannot express the confusion I was in, though the 
joy of seeing a ship, and one that I had reason to believe 
was manned by my own countrymen, and consequently 
friends, was such as I cannot describe; but yet I had 
some secret doubts hung about me — I cannot tell from 
whence they came — bidding me keep upon my guard. 
In the first place, it occurred to me to consider what 
business an English ship could have in that part of the 
world, since it was not the way to or from any part of 
the world where the English had any traffic; and I knew 
there had been no storms to drive them in there, in dis- 
tress ; and that if they were really English, it was probable 
that they were here upon no good designs, and that I 
had better continue as I was than fall into the hands of 
thieves and murderers. 


316 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


Let no man despise the secret hints and notices of 
danger which sometimes are given him when he may 
think there is no possibility of its being real. That 
such hints and notices are given us, I believe few that 
have made any observations of things can deny. That 
they are certain discoveries of an invisible world, and 
a converse of spirits, we cannot doubt; and if the tend- 
ency of them seems to be to warn us of danger, why 
should we not suppose they are from some friendly 
agent (whether supreme, or inferior and subordinate, is 
not the question), and that they are given for our good? 

The present question abundantly confirms me in the 
justice of this reasoning. For had I not been made 
cautious by this secret admonition, come it from whence 
it will, I had been undone inevitably, and in a far worse 
condition than before, as you will see presently. I 
had not kept myself long in this posture till I saw the 
boat draw near the shore, as if they looked for a creek 
to thrust it in at, for convenience of landing; however, 
as they did not come quite far enough, they did not 
see the little inlet where I formerly landed my rafts, 
but ran their boat on shore upon the beach, at about 
half a mile from me; which was very happy for me, for 
otherwise they would have landed just at my door, as 
I may say, and would soon have beaten me out of my 
castle, and perhaps have plundered me of all I had. 
When they were on shore, I was fully satisfied they were 
Englishmen, at least most of them. One or two I 
thought were Dutch, but it did not prove so. There 
were in all eleven men, whereof three of them I found 
were unarmed, and, as I thought, bound; and when the 


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first four or five of them were jumped on shore, they 
took those three out of the boat as prisoners: one of 
the three I could perceive using the most passionate 
gestures of entreaty, affliction, and despair, even to a 
kind of extravagance. The other two, I could perceive, 
lifted up their hands sometimes, and appeared con- 
cerned, indeed, but not to such a degree as the first. I 
was perfectly confounded at the sight, and knew not 
what the meaning of it should be. Friday called out 
to me in English, as well as he could, “O master! You 
see English mans eat prisoner as well as savage mans.” 
“Why, Friday,” says I, “do you think they are going 
to eat them, then?” “Yes,” says Friday, “they will 
eat them.” “No, no,” says I, “Friday; I am afraid 
they will murder them, indeed; but you may be sure 
they will not eat them.” 

All this while I had no thought of what the matter 
really was, but stood trembling with horror of the sight, 
expecting every moment that the three prisoners would 
be killed. Nay, once I saw one of the villains lift up 
his arm with a great cutlass, as the seamen call it, or 
sword, to strike one of the poor men. And I expected 
to see him fall every moment, at which all the blood 
in my body seemed to run chill in my veins. I wished 
heartily now for my Spaniard, and the savage that was 
gone with him, or that I had any way to have come 
undiscovered within shot of them, that I might have 
secured the three men, for I saw no firearms they had 
among them; but it fell out of my mind another way. 
After I had observed the outrageous usage of the three 
men by the insolent seamen, I observed the fellows run 


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scattering about the land, as if they wanted to see the 
country. I observed also that the three other men had 
liberty to go where they pleased; but they sat down all 
three upon the ground, very pensive, and looked like 
men in despair. This put me in mind of the first time 
when I came on shore, and began to look about me; 
how I gave myself over for lost; how wildly I looked 
round me; what dreadful apprehensions I had; and how 
I lodged in the tree all night, for fear of being devoured 
by wild beasts. As I knew nothing, that night, of the 
supply I was to receive by the providential driving of 
the ship nearer the land by the storms and tide, by which 
I have since been so long nourished and supported, so 
these three poor desolate men knew nothing how certain 
of deliverance and supply they were, how near it was to 
them, and how effectually and really they were in a 
condition of safety, at the same time they thought 
themselves lost and their case desperate. So little do 
we see before us in the world, and so much reason have 
we to depend cheerfully upon the great Maker of the 
world, that he does not leave his creatures so absolutely 
destitute but that, in the worst circumstances, they have 
always something to be thankful for, and sometimes are 
nearer their deliverance than they imagine. Nay, are 
even brought to their deliverance by the means by 
which they seem to be brought to their destruction. 

It was just at the top of high water when these people 
came on shore; and while they rambled about to see 
what kind of a place they were in, they had carelessly 
stayed till the tide was spent, and the water was ebbed 
considerably away, leaving their boat aground. They 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


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had left two men in the boat, who, as I found afterward, 
having drunk a little too much brandy, fell asleep. 
However, one of them waking a little sooner than the 
other, and finding the boat too fast aground for him to 
stir it, hallooed out for the rest, who were straggling 
.bout; upon which they all soon came to the boat. 
But it was past all their strength to launch her, the boat 
being very heavy and the shore on that side being a 
soft oozy sand, almost like a quicksand. In this condi- 
tion, like true seamen, who are, perhaps, the least of 
all mankind given to forethought, they gave it over, 
and away they strolled about the country again. And 
I heard one of them say aloud to another, calling them 
off from the boat, “Why, let her alone, Jack, can’t you? 
She’ll float next tide”; by which I was fully confirmed 
in the main inquiry of what countrymen they were. 
All this while I kept myself close, not once daring to 
stir out of my castle, any farther than to my place of 
observation near the top of the hill; and very glad I 
was to think how well it was fortified. I knew it was 
no less than ten hours before the boat could float again, 
and by that time it would be dark, and I might be at 
more liberty to see their motions, and to hear their dis- 
course, if they had any. In the meantime I fitted myself 
up for a battle, as before, though with more caution, 
knowing I had to do with another kind of enemy than I 
had at first. I ordered Friday also, whom I had made an 
excellent marksman with his gun, to load himself with 
arms. I took myself two fowling pieces, and I gave 
him three muskets. My figure, indeed, was very fierce; 
I had my formidable goat-skin coat on, with the great 


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cap I have mentioned, a naked sword, two pistols in my 
belt, and a gun upon each shoulder. 

It was my design, as I said above, not to have made 
any attempt till it was dark; but about two o’clock, being 
the heat of the day, I found, in short, they were all gone 
straggling into the woods, and, as I thought, were all laid 
down to sleep. The three poor distressed, men, too 
anxious for their condition to get any sleep had, however, 
sat down under the shelter of a great tree, at about a 
quarter of a mile from me, and, as I thought, out of sight 
of any of the rest. Upon this I resolved to discover 
myself to them, and learn something of their condition; 
immediately I marched as above, my man Friday at a 
good distance behind me, as formidable for his arms as I, 
but not making quite so staring a specter-like figure as I 
did. I came as near them undiscovered as I could, and 
then, before any of them saw me, I called aloud to them 
in Spanish, “What are ye, gentlemen?” They started 
up at the noise, but were ten times more confounded 
when they saw me and the uncouth figure that I made. 
They made no answer at all, but I thought I perceived 
them just going to fly from me, when I spoke to them in 
English: “Gentlemen,” said I, “do not be surprised at 
me. Perhaps you may have a friend near, when you 
did not expect it.” “He must be sent directly from 
heaven, then,” said one of them very gravely to me, 
and pulling off his hat at the same time; “for our con- 
dition is past the help of man.” “All help is from heaven, 
sir,” said I. “But can you put a stranger in the way 
to help you? For you seem to be in some great distress. 
I saw you when you landed; and when you seemed to 


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make application to the brutes that came with you, I 
saw one of them lift up his sword to kill you.” 

The poor man, with tears running down his face, and 
trembling, looked like one astonished, returned, "Am 
I talking to God, or man? Is it a real man, or an angel? ” 
“Be in no fear about that, sir,” said I; “if God had sent 
an angel to relieve you, he would have come better 
clothed, and armed after another manner than you see 
me in. Pray lay aside your fears. I am a man, an 
Englishman, and disposed to assist you. You see I 
have one servant only. We have arms and ammunition; 
tell us freely, can we serve you? What is your case?” 
“Our case, sir,” said he, “is too long to tell you while 
our murderers are so near us; but, in short, sir, I was 
commander of that ship; my men have mutinied against 
me; they have been hardly prevailed on not to murder 
me, and, at last, have set me on shore in this desolate 
plaoe, with these two men with me — one my mate, the 
other a passenger, where we expected to perish, believing 
the place to be uninhabited, and know not yet what to 
think of it.” “Where are these brutes, your enemies?” 
said I. “Do you know where they are gone? ” “ There 

they lie, sir,” said he, pointing to a thicket of trees. 
“ My heart trembles for fear they have seen us, and heard 
you speak. If they have, they certainly will murder us 
all.” “Have they any firearms?” said I. He answered, 
“They had only two pieces, one of which they left in the 
boat.” “Well, then,” said I, “leave the rest to me. I 
see they are all asleep ; it is an easy thing to kill them all. 
But shall we rather take them prisoners?” He told 
me there were two desperate villains among them that 


21 


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it was scarce safe to show any mercy to; but if they 
were secured, he believed all the rest would return to 
their duty. I asked him which they were. He told 
me he could not at that distance distinguish them, but 
he would obey my orders in anything I would direct. 
“Well,” says I, “let us retreat out of their view or hear- 
ing, lest they awake, and we will resolve further.” So 
they willingly went back with me, till the woods covered 
us from them. 

“ Look you, sir,” said I, “if I venture upon your deliv- 
erance are you willing to make two conditions with me?” 
He anticipated my proposals by telling me that both he 
and the ship, if recovered, should be wholly directed and 
commanded by me in everything; and if the ship was 
not recovered, he would live and die with me in what part 
of the world soever I would send him; and the two other 
men said the same. “Well,” said I, “my conditions are 
but two; first, — that while you stay on this island with 
me you will not pretend to any authority here; and if I 
put arms in your hands you will, upon all occasions, give 
them up to me, and do no prejudice to me or mine upon 
this island, and in the meantime be governed by my 
orders ; secondly, — that if the ship is or may be recovered, 
you will carry me and my man to England, passage free.” 

He gave me all the assurance that the invention and 
faith of a man could devise that he would comply with 
these most reasonable demands, and besides would owe 
his life to me, and acknowledge it upon all occasions as 
long as he lived. “Well, then,” said I, “here are three 
muskets for you, with powder and ball. Tell me next 
what you think is proper to be done.” He showed all the 


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testimony of his gratitude that he was able, but offered to 
be wholly guided by me. I told him I thought it was 
hard venturing anything; but the best method I could 
think of was to fire on them at once as they lay, and if any 
were not killed at the first volley, and offered to submit, 
we might save them, and so put it wholly upon God’s 
providence to direct the shot. He said, very modestly, 
that he was loath to kill them, if he could help it; but 
that those two were incorrigible villains, and had been the 
authors of all the mutiny in the ship, and if they escaped, 
we should be undone still, for they would go on board and 
bring the whole ship’s company, and destroy us all. 
“Well, then,” says I, “necessity legitimates my advice, 
for it is the only way to save our lives.” However, seeing 
him still cautious of shedding blood, I told him they 
should go themselves, and manage as they found con- 
venient. 

In the middle of this discourse we heard some of them 
awake, and soon after we saw two of them on their feet. 
I asked him if either of them were the men who he had 
said were the heads of the mutiny. He said, “No.” 
“Well, then,” said I, “you may let them escape; and 
Providence seems to have awakened them on purpose to 
save themselves. Now,” says I, “if the rest escape you, 
it is your fault.” Animated with this, he took the musket 
I had given him in his hand, and a pistol in his belt, and 
his two comrades with him, with each man a piece in his 
hand. The two men who were with him, going first, 
made some noise, at which one of the seamen, who was 
awake, turned about, and seeing them coming, cried out 
to the rest. But it was too late then, for the moment he 


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cried out they fired — I mean the two men, the captain 
wisely reserving his own piece. They had so well aimed 
their shot at the men they knew that one of them was 
killed on the spot, and the other very much wounded; 
but not being dead, he started up on his feet, and called 
eagerly for help to the other. But the captain, stepping 
to him, told him it was too late to cry for help ; he should 
call upon God to forgive his villainy, and with that word 
knocked him down with the stock of his musket, so that 
he never spoke more. There were three more in the 
company, and one of them was slightly wounded. By 
this time I was come; and when they saw their danger, 
and that it was in vain to resist, they begged for mercy. 
The captain told them he would spare their lives if they 
would give him an assurance of their abhorrence of the 
treachery they had been guilty of, and would swear to be 
faithful to him in recovering the ship, and afterwards in 
carrying her back to Jamaica, from whence they came. 
They gave him all the protestations of their sincerity that 
could be desired; and he was willing to believe them and 
spare their lives, which I was not against, only I obliged 
him to keep them bound hand and feet while they were 
upon the island. 

While this was doing, I sent Friday with the captain’s 
mate to the boat, with orders to secure her and bring 
away the oars and sails, which they did. And by and by 
three straggling men, that were (happily for them) parted 
from the rest, came back upon hearing the guns fired; 
and seeing the captain, who before was their prisoner, 
now their conqueror, they submitted to be bound also; 
and so our victory was complete. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


325 


It now remained that the captain and I should inquire 
into one another’s circumstances. I began first, and told 
him my whole history, which he heard with an attention 
even to amazement — and particularly at the wonderful 
manner of my being furnished with provisions and ammu- 
nition; and, indeed, as my story is a whole collection of 
wonders, it affected him deeply. 

But when he reflected from thence upon himself, and 
how I seemed to have been preserved there on purpose to 
save his life, the tears ran down his face, and he could not 
speak a word more. After this communication was at an 
end I carried him and his two men into my apartments, 
leading them in just where I came out, viz., at the top of 
the house, where I refreshed him with such provision as I 
had, and showed them all the contrivances I had made 
during my long, long inhabiting that place. 

All I showed them, all I said to them, was perfectly 
amazing; above all, the captain admired my fortification, 
and how perfectly I had concealed my retreat with a grove 
of trees, which, having been now planted near twenty 
years, and the trees growing much faster than in England, 
was become a little wood, so thick that it was impassable 
in any part of it but at that one side where I had reserved 
my little winding passage into it. I told him this was my 
castle and my residence, but that I had a seat in the 
country, as most princes have, whither I could retreat 
upon occasion, and I would show him that too another 
time, but at present our business was to consider how to 
recover the ship. He agreed with me as to that, but told 
me he was perfectly at a loss what measures to take, for 
that there were still six-and-twenty hands on board, who, 



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326 

having entered into a cursed conspiracy, by which they 
had all forfeited their lives to the law, would be hardened 
in it now by desperation, and would carry it on, knowing 
that if they were subdued they should be brought to the 
gallows as soon as they came to England, or to any of the 
English colonies, and that, therefore, there would be no 
attacking them with so small a number as we were. 

I mused for some time upon what he had said, and 
found it was a very rational conclusion, and that therefore 
something was to be resolved on very speedily, as well to 
draw the men on board into some snare for their surprise, 
as to prevent their landing upon us, and destroying us. 
Upon this, it presently occurred to me that in a little 
while the ship’s crew, wondering what was become of their 
comrades and of the boat, would certainly come on shore 
in their other boat to look for them, and that then, per- 
haps, they might come armed, and be too strong for us. 
This he allowed to be rational. Upon this, I told him the 
first thing we had to do was to stave the boat, which lay 
upon the beach, so that they might not carry her off, and 
taking everything out of her, leave her so far useless as not 
to be fit to swim. Accordingly we went on board, took 
the arms which were left on board out of her, and what- 
ever else we found there — which was a bottle of brandy, 
another of rum, a few biscuit-cakes, a horn of powder, and 
a great lump of sugar in a piece of canvas (the sugar was 
five or six pounds) ; all which was very welcome to me, 
especially the brandy and sugar, of which I had had none 
left for many years. 

When we had carried all these things on shore (the 
oars, mast, sail, and rudder of the boat were carried away 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


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before), we nocked a great hole in her bottom, that if 
they had come strong enough to master us, yet they could 
not carry off the boat. Indeed, it was not much in my 
thoughts that we could be able to recover the ship ; but 
my view was, that if they went away without the boat, I 
did not much question to make her again fit to carry us 
to the Leeward Islands, and call upon our friends the 
Spaniards in my way, for I had them still in my thoughts. 

While we were thus preparing our designs, and had 
first, by main strength, heaved the boat upon the beach so 
high that the tide would not float her off at high-water 
mark, and besides had broken a hole in her bottom too big 
to be quickly stopped, and were sat down musing what 
we should do, we heard the ship fire a gun, and make a 
waft with her ensign as a signal for the boat to come on 
board. But no boat stirred ; and they fired several times, 
making other signals for the boat. At last, when all their 
signals and firing proved fruitless, and they found the 
boat did not stir, we saw them, by the help of my glasses, 
hoist another boat out, and row towards the shore. And 
we found as they approached that there were no less than 
ten men in her, and that they had firearms with them. 

As the ship lay almost two leagues from the shore we 
had a full view of them as they came, and a plain sight 
even of their faces; because the tide having set them a 
little to the east of the other boat, they rowed up under 
shore, to come to the same place where the other had 
landed, and where the boat lay. By this means, I say, 
we had a full view of them, and the captain knew the 
persons and characters of all the men in the boat, of 
whom, he said, there were three very honest fellows, who, 


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he was sure, were led into this conspiracy by the rest, 
being overpowered and frightened; but that as for the 
boatswain, who it seems was the chief officer among them, 
and all the rest, they were as outrageous as any of the 
ship’s crew, and were no doubt made desperate in their 
new enterprise; and terribly apprehensive was he that 
they would be too powerful for us. I smiled at him, and 
told him that men in our circumstances were past the 
operation of fear; that seeing almost every condition that 
could be was better than that which we were supposed to 
be in, we ought to expect that the consequence, whether 
death or life, would be sure to be a deliverance. I asked 
him what he thought of the circumstances of my life, and 
whether a deliverance were not worth venturing for. 
“And where, sir,” said I, “is your belief of my being pre- 
served here on purpose to save your life, which elevated 
you a little while ago? For my part,” said I, “there 
seems to be but one thing amiss in all the prospect of it.” 
“What is that?” says he. “Why,” said I, “it is, that as 
you say there are three or four honest fellows among them 
which should be spared. Had they been all of the wicked 
part of the crew, I should have thought God’s providence 
had singled them out to deliver them into your hands; 
for depend upon it, every man that comes ashore is our 
own, and shall die or live as they behave to us.” As I 
spoke this with a raised voice and cheerful countenance, I 
found it greatly encouraged him; so we set vigorously to 
our business. 

We had, upon the first appearance of the boat coming 
from the ship, considered of separating our prisoners; and 
had, indeed, secured them effectually. Two of them, of 


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whom the captain was less assured than ordinary, I sent 
with Friday and one of the three delivered men to my 
cave, where they were remote enough, and out of danger 
of being heard or discovered, or of finding their way out of 
the woods, if they could have delivered themselves; here 
they left them bound, but gave them provisions; and 
promised them, if they continued there quietly, to give 
them their liberty in a day or two; but that if they 
attempted their escape, they should be put to death with- 
out mercy. They promised faithfully to bear their con- 
finement with patience, and were very thankful that they 
had such good usage as to have provisions and a light left 
them. For Friday gave them candles (such as we made 
ourselves) for their comfort; and they did not know but 
that he stood sentinel over them at the entrance. 

The other prisoners had better usage; two of them were 
kept pinioned, indeed, because the captain was not free 
to trust them; but the other two were taken into my 
service, upon the captain’s recommendation, and upon 
their solemnly engaging to live and die with us. So with 
them and the three honest men we were seven men, well 
armed; and I made no doubt we should be able to deal 
well enough with the ten that were coming, considering 
that the captain had said there were three or four honest 
men among them also. As soon as they got to the place 
where their other boat lay, they ran their boat into the 
beach and came all on shore, hauling the boat up after 
them, which I was glad to see, for I was afraid they would 
rather have left the boat at anchor some distance from 
the shore, with some hands in her, to guard her, and so we 
should not be able to seize the boat. Being on shore, the 


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first thing they did they ran all to their other boat; and 
it was easy to see they were under a great surprise to find 
her stripped, as above, of all that was in her, and a great 
hole in her bottom. After they had mused awhile upon 
this, they set up two or three great shouts, hallooing with 
all their might to try if they could make their companions 
hear; but all was to no purpose: then they came all close 
in a ring, and fired a volley of their smallarms, which, 
indeed, we heard, and the echoes made the woods ring. 
But it was all one; those in the cave, we were sure, could 
not hear; and those in our keeping, though they heard it 
well enough, yet durst give no answer to them. They 
were so astonished at the surprise of this, that, as they 
told us afterwards, they resolved to go all on board again 
to their ship, and let them know that the men were all 
murdered, and the longboat staved. Accordingly, they 
immediately launched their boat again, and got all of 
them on board. 

The captain was terribly amazed, and even confounded, 
at this, believing they would go on board the ship again, 
and set sail, giving their comrades over for lost, and so he 
should still lose the ship, which he was in hopes we should 
have recovered. But he was quickly as much frightened 
the other way. 

They had not been long put off with the boat, when we 
perceived them all coming on shore again; but with this 
new measure in their conduct, which it seems they con- 
sulted together upon, viz., to leave three men in the boat, 
and the rest to go on shore, and go up into the country to 
look for their fellows. This was a great disappointment 
to us, for now we were at a loss what to do, as our seizing 



Then they came all close in a ring , and fired a volley of their small arms 




















ROBINSON CRUSOE 


33i 


these seven men on shore would be no advantage to us if 
we let the boat escape; because they would row away to 
the ship, and then the rest of them would be sure to 
weigh and set sail, and so our recovering the ship would 
be lost*- However, we had no remedy but to wait and 
see what the issue of things might present. The seven 
men came on shore, and the three who remained in the 
boat put her off to a good distance from the shore, and 
came to an anchor to wait for them; so that it was 
impossible for us to come at them in the boat. Those 
that came on shore kept close together, marching towards 
the top of the little hill under which my habitation lay, 
and we could see them plainly, though they could not 
perceive us. We should have been very glad if they 
would have come nearer us, so that we might have fired 
at them, or that they would have gone farther off, that 
we might come abroad. But when they were come to 
the brow of the hill where they could see a great way into 
the valleys and woods, which lay towards the northeast 
part, and where the island lay the lowest, they shouted 
and hallooed till they were weary: and not caring, it 
seems, to venture far from the shore, nor far from one 
another, they sat down together, under a tree, to consider 
of it. Had they thought fit to have gone to sleep there 
as the other party of them had done, they had done the 
job for us; but they were too full of apprehensions of 
danger to venture to go to sleep, though they could not 
tell what the danger was they had to fear. 

The captain made a very just proposal to me upon this 
consultation of theirs, viz., that perhaps they would all fire 
a volley again, to endeavor to make their fellows hear, 


332 


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and that we should all sally upon them just at the juncture 
when their pieces were all discharged, and they would 
certainly yield, and we should have them without blood- 
shed. I liked this proposal, provided it was done while 
we were near enough to come up to them before they could 
load their pieces again. But this event did not happen ; 
and we lay still a long time, very irresolute what course to 
take. At length, I told them there would be nothing 
done, in my opinion, till night; and then if they did not 
return to the boat, perhaps we might find a way to get 
between them and the shore, and so might use some 
stratagem with them in the boat to get them on shore. 
We waited a great while, though very impatient for their 
removing; and were very uneasy, when, after long con- 
sultation, we saw them all start up, and march down 
towards the sea; it seems they had such dreadful appre- 
hensions of the danger of the place that they resolved to 
go on board the ship again, give their companions over for 
lost, and so go on with their intended voyage with the ship. 

As soon as I perceived them go towards the shore I 
imagined it to be as it really was, that they had given over 
their search, and were for going back again; and the 
captain, as soon as I told him my thoughts, was ready to 
sink at the apprehensions of it. But I presently thought 
of a stratagem to fetch them back again, and which 
answered my end to a tittle. I ordered Friday and the 
captain’s mate to go over the little creek westward, 
towards the place where the savages came on shore when 
Friday was rescued, and so soon as they came to a little 
rising ground, at about half a mile distance, I bade them 
halloo out, as loud as they could, and wait till they found 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


333 


the seamen heard them; that as soon as ever they heard 
the seamen answer them, they should return it again; 
and then keeping out of sight, take a round, always 
answering when the others hallooed, to draw them as far 
into the island, and among the woods, as possible, and 
then wheel about again to me by such ways as I directed. 

They were just going into the boat when Friday and 
the mate hallooed; and they presently heard them, and, 
answering, ran along the shore westward, towards the 
voice they heard, when they were presently stopped by 
the creek, where, the water being up, they could not get 
over, and called for the boat to come up and set them over; 
as, indeed, I expected. 

When they had set themselves over, I observed that the 
boat being gone up a good way into the creek, and, as it 
were, in a harbor within the land, they took one of the 
three men out of her, to go along with them, and left only 
two in the boat, having fastened her to the stump of a little 
tree on the shore. This was what I wished for; and 
immediately leaving Friday and the captain’s mate to 
their business, I took the rest with me, and crossing the 
creek out of their sight, we surprised the two men before 
they were aware; one of them lying on the shore, and the 
other being in the boat. The fellow on shore was between 
sleeping and waking, and going to start up. The captain, 
who was foremost, ran in upon him, and knocked him 
down; and then called out to him in the boat to yield, or 
he was a dead man. There needed very few arguments to 
persuade a single man to yield when he saw five men upon 
him and his comrade knocked down; besides, this was, it 
seems, one of the three who were not so hearty in the 


334 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


mutiny as the rest of the crew; and, therefore, was easily 
persuaded not only to yield but afterwards to join very 
sincerely with us. In the meantime, Friday and the 
captain’s mate so well managed their business with the 
rest, that they drew them, by hallooing and answering, 
from one hill to another, and from one wood to another, 
till they not only heartily tired them, but left them where 
they could not reach back to the boat before it was dark; 
and indeed, they were heartily tired themselves also, by 
the time they came back to us. 

We had nothing now to do but to watch for them in the 
dark, and to fall upon them, so as to make sure work with 
them. It was several hours after Friday came back to me 
before they came back to their boat; and we could hear 
the foremost of them, long before they came quite up, 
calling to those behind to come along; and could also hear 
them answer, and complain how lame and tired they were, 
and not able to come any faster: which was very wel- 
come news to us. At length they came up to the boat: 
but it is impossible to express their confusion when they 
found the boat fast aground in the creek, the tide ebbed 
out, and their two men gone. We could hear them call 
to one another in a most lamentable manner, telling one 
another they were got into an enchanted island; that 
either there were inhabitants in it, and they should all be 
murdered, or else there were devils and spirits in it, and 
they should be all carried away and devoured. They 
hallooed again, and called their two comrades by their 
names a great many times; but no answer. After some 
time we could see them, by the little light there was, run 
about, wringing their hands like men in despair, and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


335 


sometimes they would go and sit down in the boat to rest 
themselves: then come ashore again, and walk about 
again, and so the same thing over again. My men would 
fain have had me give them leave to fall upon them at 
once in the dark; but I was willing to take them at some 
advantage, so as to spare them, and kill as few of them as 
I could; and especially I was unwilling to hazard the kill- 
ing any of our men, knowing the others were very well 
armed. I resolved to wait, to see if they did not separate ; 
and therefore, to make sure of them, I drew my ambuscade 
nearer, and ordered Friday and the captain to creep upon 
their hands and feet as close to the ground as they could, 
that they might not be discovered, and get as near them 
as they could possibly, before they offered to fire. 

They had not been long in that posture, when the 
boatswain, who was the principal ringleader of the mutiny, 
and had now shown himself the most dejected and dispir- 
ited of all the rest, came walking towards them, with two 
more of the crew. The captain was so eager at having 
the principal rogue so much in his power, that he could 
hardly have patience to let him come so near as to be sure 
of him, for they only heard his tongue before; but when 
they came nearer, the captain and Friday, starting up on 
their feet, let fly at them. The boatswain was killed 
upon the spot. The next man was shot in the body, and 
fell just by him, though he did not die till an hour or two 
after; and the third ran for it. At the noise of the fire, I 
immediately advanced with my whole army, which was 
now eight men; viz., myself, generalissimo; Friday, my 
lieutenant-general; the captain and his two men, and the 
three prisoners of war, whom we had trusted with arms. 


336 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


We came upon them, indeed, in the dark, so that they 
could not see our number; and I made the man they had 
left in the boat, who was now one of us, call them by name, 
to try if I could bring them to a parley, and so perhaps 
reduce them to terms; which fell out just as we desired; 
for, indeed, it was easy to think, as their condition then 
was, they would be very willing to capitulate. So he 
calls out as loud as he could to one of them, “Tom 
Smith! Tom Smith!” Tom Smith answered immediately, 
“Who’s that? Robinson?” for it seems he knew the 
voice. The other answered, “Ay, ay; for God’s sake, 
Tom Smith, throw down your arms and yield, or you are 
all dead men this moment.” “Who must we yield to? 
Where are they?” says Smith again. “Here they are,” 
says he; “here’s our captain and fifty men with him, have 
been hunting you these two horns. The boatswain is 
killed, Will Frye is wounded, and I am a prisoner. And 
if you do not yield, you are all lost.” “ Will they give us 
quarter then?” says Tom Smith, “and we will yield.” 
“I’ll go and ask, if you promise to yield,” said Robinson; 
so he asked the captain; and the captain himself then 
calls out, “You Smith, you know my voice. If you lay 
down your arms immediately, and submit, you shall have 
your lives, all but Will Atkins.” 

Upon this Will Atkins cried out, “For God’s sake, 
captain, give me quarter. What have I done? They 
have been all as bad as I”: which, by the way, was not 
true, for it seems this Will Atkins was the first man that 
laid hold of the captain when they first mutinied, and 
used him barbarously, in tying his hands and giving him 
injurious language. However, the captain told him that 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


337 


he must lay down his arms at discretion, and trust to the 
governor’s mercy: by which he meant me, for they all 
called me governor. In a word, they all laid down their 
arms, and begged for their lives; and I sent the man that 
had parleyed with them, and two more, who bound them 
all; and then my great army of fifty men, which, with 
those three, were in all but eight, came up and seized upon 
them, and upon their boat. Only that I kept myself and 
one more out of sight, for reasons of state. 

Our next work was to repair the boat and think of 
seizing the ship. And as for the captain, now he had 
leisure to parley with them, he expostulated with them 
upon the villainy of their practices with him, and upon 
the further wickedness of their design, and how certainly 
it must bring them to misery and distress in the end, and 
perhaps to the gallows. They all appeared very penitent, 
and begged hard for their lives. As for that, he told them 
they were none of his prisoners, but the commander’s of 
the island; that they thought they had set him on shore 
in a barren, uninhabited island, but it had pleased God so 
to direct them that it was inhabited, and that the gover- 
nor was an Englishman; that he might hang them all 
there, if he pleased; but as he had given them all quarter, 
he supposed he would send them to England, to be dealt 
with there as justice required, except Atkins, whom he 
was commanded by the governor to advise to prepare for 
death, — that he would be hanged in the morning. 

Though this was all a fiction of his own, yet it had its 
desired effect. Atkins fell upon his knees to beg the 
captain to intercede with the governor for his life; and 
all the rest begged of him, for God’s sake, that they might 
not be sent to England. 

22 


33 » 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


It now occurred to me that the time of our deliverance 
was come, and that it would be a most easy thing to bring 
these fellows in to be hearty in getting possession of the 
ship. So I retired in the dark from them, that they 
might not see what kind of a governor they had, and 
called the captain to me. When I called, as at a good 
distance, one of the men was ordered to speak again, and 
say to the captain, “Captain, the commander calls for 
you”; and presently the captain replied, “Tell his 
Excellency I am just coming.” This more perfectly 
amazed them, and they all believed that the commander 
was just by with his fifty men. Upon the captain coming 
to me, I told him my project for seizing the ship, which 
he liked wonderfully well and resolved to put it in execu- 
tion next morning. But in order to execute it with more 
art, and to be secure of success, I told him we must divide 
the prisoners, and that he should go and take Atkins, 
and two more of the worst of them, and send them 
pinioned to the cave where the others lay. This was 
committed to Friday and the two men who came on shore 
with the captain. They conveyed them to the cave as to 
a prison: and it was, indeed, a dismal place, especially 
to men in their condition. The others I ordered to my 
bower, as I called it, of which I have given a full descrip- 
tion. And as it was fenced in, and they pinioned, the 
place was secure enough, considering they were upon 
their good behavior. 

To these in the morning I sent the captain, who was to 
enter into a parley with them; in a word, to try them, 
and tell me whether he thought they might be trusted or 
not to go on board and surprise the ship. He talked to 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


339 


them of the injury done him, of the condition they were 
brought to, and that though the governor had given them 
quarter for their lives as to the present action, yet that if 
they were sent to England they would be all hanged in 
chains; but that if they would join in such an attempt as 
to recover the ship he would have the governor’s engage- 
ment for their pardon. 

Any one may guess how readily such a proposal would 
be accepted by men in their condition ; they fell down on 
their knees to the captain, and promised, with the deepest 
imprecations, that they would be faithful to him to the 
last drop, and that they should owe their lives to him, 
and would go with him all over the world; that they 
would own him for a father to them as long as they lived. 
“Well,” says the captain, “I must go and tell the gover- 
nor what you say, and see what I can do to bring him to 
consent to it.” So he brought me an account of the 
temper he found them in, and that he verily believed they 
would be faithful. However, that we might be very 
secure, I told him he should go back again and choose out 
five of them, and tell them that they might see that he 
did not want men, that he would take out those five to be 
his assistants, and that the governor would keep the other 
two and the three that were sent prisoners to the castle 
(my cave), as hostages for the fidelity of those five; and 
that if they proved unfaithful in the execution, the five 
hostages should be hanged in chains alive on the shore. 
This looked severe, and convinced them that the governor 
was in earnest. However, they had no way left them 
but to accept it; and it was now the business of the 
prisoners, as much as of the captain, to persuade the other 
five to do their duty. 


340 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


Our strength was now thus ordered for the expedition: 
first, the captain, his mate, and passenger; second, then 
the two prisoners of the first gang, to whom, having 
their character from the captain, I had given their 
liberty, and trusted them with arms; third, the other 
two whom I had kept till now in my bower pinioned, 
but, upon the captain’s motion, had now released; fourth, 
these five released at last; so that they were twelve in all, 
besides five we kept prisoners in the cave for hostages. 

I asked the captain if he was willing to venture with 
these hands on board the ship; for as for me, and my man 
Friday, I did not think if was proper for us to stir, having 
seven men left behind; and it was employment enough 
for us to keep them asunder, and supply them with 
victuals. As to the five in the cave, I resolved to keep 
them fast, but Friday went in twice a day to them, to 
supply them with necessaries; and I made the other two 
carry provisions to a certain distance, where Friday 
was to take it. 

When I showed myself to the two hostages it was with 
the captain, who told them I was the person the governor 
had ordered to look after them; and that it was the 
governor’s pleasure they should not stir anywhere but 
by my direction; that if they did, they would be fetched 
into the castle, and be laid in irons: so that as we never 
suffered them to see me as governor, I now appeared 
as another person, and spoke of the governor, the garri- 
son, the castle, and the like upon all occasions. 

The captain now had no difficulty before him but to 
furnish his two boats, stop the breach of one, and man 
them. He. made his passenger captain of one, with four 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


34i 


other men; and himself, his mate, and five more, went 
in the other; and they contrived their business very 
well, for they came up to the ship about midnight. As 
soon as they came within call of the ship, he made Robin- 
son hail them, and tell them they had brought off the 
men and the boat, but that it was a long time before 
they had found them, and the like; holding them in a 
chat till they came to the ship’s side; when the captain 
and the mate entering first with their arms, immediately 
knocked down the second mate and carpenter with the 
butt-end of their muskets, being very faithfully seconded 
by their men. They secured all the rest that were upon 
the main and quarter decks, and began to fasten the 
hatches, to keep them down that were below; when the 
other boat and their men, entering at the fore-chains, 
secured the forecastle of the ship, and the scuttle which 
went down into the cook room, making three men they 
found there prisoners. When this was done, and all 
safe upon deck, the captain ordered the mate, with three 
men, to break into the round-house, where the new rebel 
captain lay, who, having taken the alarm, had got up 
and with two men and a boy had got firearms in their 
hands. And the mate, with a crow, split open the door. 
The new captain and his men fired boldly among them, 
and wounded the mate with a musket ball, which broke 
his arm, and wounded two more of the men, but killed 
nobody. The mate, calling for help, rushed, however, 
into the round-house, wounded as he was, and with his 
pistol shot the new captain through the head, the bullet 
entering at his mouth, coming out again behind one of 
his ears, so that he never spoke a word more: upon which 


342 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


the rest yielded, and the ship was taken effectually, 
without any more lives lost. 

As soon as the ship was thus secured, the captain 
ordered seven guns to be fired, which was the signal 
agreed upon with me to give me notice of his success, 
which, you may be sure, I was very glad to hear, having 
sat watching upon the shore for it till near two o’clock 
in the morning. Having thus heard the signal plainly, 
I laid me down; and it having been a day of great fatigue 
to me, I slept very sound till I was something surprised 
with the noise of a gun; and presently, starting up, I 
heard a man calling me by the name of “Governor! 
Governor!” and presently I knew the captain’s voice; 
when climbing up to the top of the hill, there he stood, 
and, pointing to the ship, he embraced me in his arms. 
“My dear friend and deliverer,” says he, “there’s your 
ship; for she is all yours, and so are we, and all that 
belongs to her.” I cast my eyes to the ship, and there 
she rode, within little more than half a mile of the shore; 
for they had weighed her anchor as soon as they were 
masters of her, and, the weather being fair, had brought 
her to an anchor just against the mouth of the little 
creek; and, the tide being up, the captain had brought 
the pinnace in near the place where I first landed my 
rafts, so landed just at my door. I was at first ready 
to sink down with the surprise. For I saw my deliver- 
ance, indeed, visibly put into my hands, all things easy, 
and a large ship just ready to carry me away whither 
I pleased to go. At first, for some time, I was not able 
to answer one word. But as he had taken me in his 
arms I held fast by him, or I should have fallen to the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


343 


ground. He perceived the surprise, and immediately 
pulled a bottle out of his pocket, and gave me a dram of 
cordial, which he had brought on purpose for me. After 
I had drunk it, I sat down upon the ground; and though 
it brought me to myself, yet it was a good while before 
I could speak a word to him. All this while the poor 
man was in as great an ecstasy as I, only not under any 
surprise as I was; and he said a thousand kind and 
tender things to me, to compose and bring me to myself. 
But such was the flood of joy in my breast that it put 
all my spirits into confusion. At last it broke into tears; 
and, in a little while after, I recovered my speech; then 
I took my turn and embraced him as my deliverer, and 
we rejoiced together. 

I told him I looked upon him as a man sent from 
heaven to deliver me, and that the whole transaction 
seemed to be a chain of wonders; that such things as 
these were the testimonies we had of a secret hand of 
Providence governing the world, and an evidence that 
the eye of an Infinite Power could search into the remotest 
corner of the world, and send help to the miserable 
whenever he pleased. I forgot not to lift up my heart 
in thankfulness to Heaven; and what heart could forbear 
to bless him, who had not only in a miraculous man- 
ner provided for one in such a wilderness, and in such 
a desolate condition, but from whom every deliverance 
must always be acknowledged to proceed? 

When we had talked a while, the captain told me he 
had brought me some little refreshments, such as the 
ship afforded, and such as the wretches that had been 
so long his masters had not plundered him of. Upon 


344 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


this, he called aloud to the boat, and bade his men bring 
the things ashore that were for the governor; and, 
indeed, it was a present as if I had been one that was not 
to be carried away along with them, but as if I had been 
to dwell upon the island still, and they were to go without 
me. First, he had brought me a case of bottles full of 
excellent cordial waters, six large bottles of Madeira 
wine (the bottles held two quarts each), two pounds of 
excellent good tobacco, twelve good pieces of the ship’s 
beef, and six pieces of pork, with a bag of peas, and about 
a hundredweight of biscuit. He also brought me a box 
of sugar, a box of flour, a bag full of lemons, and two 
bottles of lime juice, and abundance of other things. 
But besides these, and what was a thousand times more 
useful, he brought me six new clean shirts, six very good 
neckcloths, two pair of gloves, one pair of shoes, a hat, 
and one pair of stockings, and a very good suit of clothes 
of his own, which had been worn but very little. In a 
word, he clothed me from head to foot. It was a very kind 
and agreeable present, as any one may imagine, to one in 
my circumstances. But never was anything in the world 
of that kind so unpleasant, awkward, and uneasy as it 
was to me to wear such clothes at their first putting on. 

After these ceremonies were past, and after all his 
good things were brought into my little apartment, we 
began to consult what was to be done with the prisoners 
we had; for it was worth considering whether we might 
venture to take them away with us or no, especially two 
of them, whom he knew to be incorrigible and refractory 
to the last degree; and the captain said he knew they were 
such rogues that there was no obliging them, and if he 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


345 


did carry them away it must be in irons, as malefactors, 
to be delivered over to justice at the first English colony 
he could come at: and I found that the captain himself 
was very anxious about it. Upon this, I told him that, 
if he desired it, I would undertake to bring the two men 
he spoke of to make it their own request that he should 
leave them upon the island. “I should be very glad 
of that,” says the captain, “with all my heart.” “Well,” 
says I, “I will send for them up, and talk with them for 
you.” So I caused Friday and the two hostages, for 
they were now discharged, their comrades having per- 
formed their promise; I say, I caused them to go to the 
cave, and bring up the five men, pinioned as they were, 
to the bower, and keep them there till I came. After 
some time, I came thither dressed in my new habit; 
and now I was called governor again. Being all met, 
and the captain with me, I caused the men to be brought 
before me, and I told them I had got a full account of 
their villainous behavior to the captain, and how they 
had run away with the ship, and were preparing to 
commit further robberies, but that Providence had 
ensnared them in their own ways, and that they were 
fallen into the pit which they had dug for others. I let 
them know that by my direction the ship had been seized; 
that she lay now in the road; and they might see by 
and by that their new captain had received the reward 
of his villainy, for that they might see him hanging at 
the yard-arm; that, as to them, I wanted to know what 
they had to say why I should not execute them as pirates, 
taken in the act, as by my commission they could not 
doubt but I had authority to do. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


One of them answered in the name of the rest that 
they had nothing to say but this, that when they were 
taken the captain promised them their lives, and they 
humbly implored my mercy. But I told them I knew 
not what mercy to show them; for as for myself I had 
resolved to quit the island with all my men, and had 
taken passage with the captain to go to England; and 
as for the captain, he could not carry them to England 
other than as prisoners in irons, to be tried for mutiny, 
and running away with the ship; the consequences of 
which, they must needs know, would be the gallows; so 
that I could not tell what was the best for them, unless 
they had a mind to take their fate in the island. If 
they desired that, I did not care. As I had liberty to 
leave it, I had some inclination to give them their lives, 
if they thought they could shift on shore. They seemed 
very thankful for it, and said they would much rather 
venture to stay there than be carried to England to be 
hanged. So I left it on that issue. 

However, the captain seemed to make some difficulty 
of it, as if he durst not leave them there. Upon this I 
seemed a little angry with the captain, and told him 
that they were my prisoners, not his; and, that seeing 
I had offered them so much favor, I would be as good as 
my word; and that if he did not think fit to consent to 
it, I would set them at liberty, as I found them; and if 
he did not like it, he might take them again if he could 
catch them. Upon this they appeared very thankful, 
and I accordingly set them at liberty and bade them 
retire into the woods, to the place whence they came, and 
I would leave them some firearms, some ammunition, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


and some directions how they should live very well, if 
they thought fit. Upon this I prepared to go on board 
the ship; but told the captain I would stay that night 
to prepare my things, and desired him to go on board 
in the meantime, and keep all right in the ship, and send 
the boat on shore next day for me; ordering him, in 
the meantime, to cause the new captain, who was killed, 
to be hanged at the yard-arm, that these men might 
see him. 

When the captain was gone I sent for the men up to 
me in my apartment, and entered seriously into discourse 
with them of their circumstances. I told them I thought 
they had made a right choice; but if the captain had 
carried them away, they would certainly be hanged. 
I showed them the new captain hanging at the yard- 
arm of the ship, and told them they had nothing less to 
expect. 

When they had all declared their willingness to stay, 
I told them I would let them into the story of my living 
there, and put them into the way of making it easy to 
them. Accordingly, I gave them the whole history of 
the place, and of my coming to it; showed them my 
fortifications, the way I made my bread, planted my 
corn, cured my grapes, and, in a word, all that was 
necessary to make them easy. I told them the story 
also of the sixteen Spaniards, that were to be expected, 
for whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat 
them in common with themselves. 

I left them my firearms, viz., five muskets, three 
fowling pieces, and three swords. I had above a barrel 
and a half of powder left; for after the first year or two 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


I used but little, and wasted none. I gave them a 
description of the way I managed the goats, and direc- 
tions to milk and fatten them, and to make both butter 
and cheese. In a word, I gave them every part of my 
story, and told them I should prevail with the captain 
to leave them two barrels of gunpowder more, and some 
garden seeds, which I told them I would have been 
very glad of. Also, I gave them the bag of peas which 
the captain had brought me to eat, and bade them be 
sure to sow and increase them. 

Having done all this, I left the next day, and went on 
board the ship. We prepared immediately to sail, but 
did not weigh that night. The next morning early, 
two of the five men came swimming to the ship’s side, 
and made the most lamentable complaint of the other 
three, begged to be taken into the ship for God’s sake, 
for they should be murdered, and begged the captain to 
take them on board, though he hanged them immediately. 
Upon this, the captain pretended to have no power 
without me; but after some difficulty, and after their 
solemn promises of amendment, they were taken on 
board, and were, some time after, soundly whipped and 
pickled; after which they proved very honest and quiet 
fellows. 

Some time after this, I went with the boat on shore, 
the tide being up, with the things promised to the men; 
to which the captain, at my intercession, caused their 
chests and clothes to be added, which they took, and 
were very thankful for. I also encouraged them, by 
telling them that if it lay in my way to send any vessel 
to take them in I would not forget them. 



I gave them the whole history of the place 


























































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ROBINSON CRUSOE 


When I took leave of this island I carried on board, 
for relics, the great goatskin cap I had made, my umbrella, 
and one of my parrots; also I forgot not to take the 
money I formerly mentioned, which had lain by me so 
long useless that it was grown rusty or tarnished, and 
could hardly pass for silver till it had been a little rubbed 
and handled, and also the money I found in the wreck 
of the Spanish ship. And thus I left the island, the 19th 
of December, as I found by the ship’s account, in the 
year 1686, after I had been upon it eight-and-twenty 
years, two months, and nineteen days; being delivered 
from this second captivity the same day of the month 
that I first made my escape in the longboat from among 
the Moors of Sallee. In this vessel, after a long voyage, 
I arrived in England the nth of June, in the year 1687, 
having been thirty-five years absent. 

When I came to England I was a perfect stranger 
to all the world, as if I had never been known there. My 
benefactor and faithful steward, whom I had left my 
money in trust with, was alive, but had had great mis- 
fortunes in the world; was become a widow the second 
time, and very low in the world. I made her easy as 
to what she owed me, assuring her I would give her no 
trouble; but, on the contrary, in gratitude for her former 
care and faithfulness to me, I relieved her as my little 
stock would afford; which at that time would, indeed, 
allow me to do but little for her: but I assured her I 
would never forget her former kindness to me ; nor did I 
forget her when I had sufficient to help her, as shall be 
observed in its place. I went down afterwards into 
Yorkshire; but my father was dead, and my mother and 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


all the family extinct, except that I found two sisters 
and two of the children of one of my brothers; and as I 
had been long ago given over for dead, there had been 
no provision made for me; so that, in a word, I found 
nothing to relieve or assist me. And that little money 
I had would not do much for me as to settling in the 
world. 

I met with one piece of gratitude, indeed, which I 
did not expect; and this was, that the master of the 
ship, whom I had so happily delivered, and by the same 
means saved the ship and cargo, having given a very 
handsome account to the owners of the manner how I 
had saved the lives of the men and the ship, they invited 
me to meet them and some other merchants concerned, 
and all together made me a very handsome compliment 
upon the subject, and a present of almost £200 sterling. 

But after making several reflections upon the cir- 
cumstances of my life, and how little way this would go 
towards settling me in the world, I resolved to go to 
Lisbon, and see if I might not come by some information 
of the state of my plantation in the Brazils, and of what 
was become of my partner, who, I had reason to suppose, 
had some years now given me over for dead. With this 
view I took shipping for Lisbon, where I arrived in April 
following, my man Friday accompanying me very 
honestly in all these ramblings, and proving a most faith- 
ful servant upon all occasions. When I came to Lisbon 
I found out, by inquiry, and to my particular satis- 
faction, my old friend, the captain of the ship who first 
took me up at sea off the shore of Africa. He was now 
grown old, and had left the sea, having put his son, who 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


35i 


was far from a young man, into his ship, and who still 
used the Brazil trade. The old man did not know me; 
and indeed, I hardly knew him. But I soon brought 
myself to his remembrance, when I told him who I was. 

After some passionate expressions of the old acquaint- 
ance between us I inquired, you may be sure, after my 
plantation and my partner. The old man told me he 
had not been in the Brazils for about nine years; but 
that he could assure me that when he came away my 
partner was living; but the trustees, whom I had joined 
with him to take cognizance of my part, were both dead; 
that, however, he believed that I would have a very 
good account of the improvement of the plantation; 
for that, upon the general belief of my being cast away 
and drowned, my trustees had given in the account of 
the produce of my part of the plantation to the procurator- 
fiscal, who had appropriated it, in case I never came to 
claim it, one third to the king and two thirds to the 
monastery of St. Augustine, to be expended for the benefit 
of the poor and for the conversion of the Indians to the 
Catholic faith. But that if I appeared, or any one for 
me, to claim the inheritance, it would be restored; only 
that the improvement, or annual production, being dis- 
tributed to charitable uses, could not be restored. But 
he assured me that the steward of the king’s revenue 
from lands, and the providore, or steward of the monas- 
tery, had taken great care all along that the incumbent, 
that is to say, my partner, gave every year a faithful 
account of the produce, of which they had received duly 
my moiety. I asked him if he knew to what height of 
improvement he had brought the plantation, and whether 


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he thought it might be worth looking after; or whether, 
on my going thither, I should meet with any obstruction 
to my possessing my just right in the moiety. He told 
me he could not tell exactly to what degree the plantation 
was improved; but this he knew, that my partner was 
grown exceeding rich upon the enjoying but one half 
of it; and that, to the best of his remembrance, he had 
learned that the king’s third of my part, which was, 
it seems, granted away to some other monastery or 
religious house, amounted to above two hundred moi- 
dores a year: that as to my being restored to a quiet 
possession of it, there was no question to be made of 
that, my partner being alive to witness my title, and my 
name being also enrolled in the register of the country. 
Also he told me that the survivors of my two trustees 
were very fair, honest people, and very wealthy; and he 
believed I would not only have their assistance for 
putting me in possession, but would find a very con- 
siderable stun of money in their hands for my account, 
being the produce of the farm while their fathers held 
the trust, and before it was given up, as above; which, 
as he remembered, was for about twelve years. 

I showed myself a little concerned and uneasy at this 
account, and inquired of the old captain how it came to 
pass that the trustees should thus dispose of my effects, 
when he knew that I had made my will, and had made 
him, the Portuguese captain, my universal heir, etc. 

He told me that was true; but that as there was no 
proof of my being dead he could not act as executor, 
until some certain account should come of my death; 
and that besides, he was not willing to intermeddle with 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


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a thing so remote; that it was true he had registered my 
will, and put in his claim; and could he have given any 
account of my being dead or alive he would have acted 
by procuration, and taken possession of the ingenio 
(so they call the sugar house), and have given his son, 
who was now at the Brazils, orders to do it. “But,” 
says the old man, “I have one piece of news to tell you 
which perhaps may not be so acceptable to you as the 
rest; and that is, believing you were lost, and all the 
world believing so also, your partner and trustees did 
offer to account with me, in your name, for the first six 
or eight years’ profits, which I received. There being 
at that time great disbursements for increasing the works, 
building an ingenio, and buying slaves, it did not amount 
to near so much as afterwards it produced; however,” 
says the old man, “I shall give you a true account 
of what I have received in all, and how I have disposed 
of it.” 

After a few days’ further conference with this ancient 
friend, he brought me an account of the first six years’ 
income of my plantation, signed by my partner and the 
merchant-trustees, being always delivered in goods, 
viz., tobacco in roll, and sugar in chests, besides rum, 
molasses, etc., which is the consequence of a sugar work; 
and I found by this account that every year the income 
considerably increased; but, as above, the disbursements 
being large, the sum at first was small ; however, the old 
man let me see that he was debtor to me four hundred 
and seventy moidores of gold, besides sixty chests of 
sugar, and fifteen double rolls of tobacco, which were 
lost in his ship, he having been shipwrecked coming home 


23 


354 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


to Lisbon, about eleven years after my leaving the place. 
The good man then began to complain of his misfortunes, 
and how he had been obliged to make use of my money 
to recover his losses, and buy him a share in new ship. 
“However, my old friend,” says he, “you shall not want 
a supply in your necessity, and as soon as my son returns 
you shall be fully satisfied.” Upon this he pulls out an 
old pouch, and gives me one hundred and sixty Portugal 
moidores in gold; and giving me the writings of his 
title to the ship, which his son was gone to the Brazils 
in, of which he was quarter-part owner, and his son 
another, he puts them both in my hands for security 
of the rest. 

I was too much moved with the honesty and kindness 
of the poor man to be able to bear this; and remembering 
what he had done for me, how he had taken me up at 
sea, and how generously he had used me on all occasions, 
and particularly how sincere a friend he was now to me, 
I could hardly refrain weeping at what he had said to 
me. Therefore, first, I asked him if his circumstances 
admitted him to spare so much money at that time, and 
if it would not straiten him? He told me he could not 
say but it might straiten him a little; but, however, 
it was my money, and I might want it more than he. 

Everything the good man said was full of affection, 
and I could hardly refrain from tears while he spoke: in 
short, I took one hundred of the moidores, and called 
for a pen and ink to give him a receipt for them; then 
I returned him the rest, and told him if ever I had posses- 
sion of the plantation I would return the other to him 
also (as, indeed, I afterwards did); and that as to the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


355 


bill of sale of his part in his son’s ship, I would not take 
it by any means; but that if I wanted the money, I 
found he was honest enough to pay me; and if I did 
not, but came to receive what he gave me reason to 
expect, I would never have a penny more from him. 

When this was past, the old man began to ask me if 
he should put me into a method to make my claim to my 
plantation. I told him I thought to go over to it myself. 
He said I might do so if I pleased; but that, if I did not, 
there were ways enough to secure my right, and imme- 
diately to appropriate the profits to my use: and as 
there were ships in the river of Lisbon just ready to go 
away to Brazil, he made me enter my name in a public 
register, with his affidavit, affirming, upon oath, that I 
was alive, and that I was the same person who took up 
the land for the planting the said plantation at first. 
This being regularly attested by a notary, and a pro- 
curation affixed, he directed me to send it, with a letter 
of his writing, to a merchant of his acquaintance at the 
place; and then proposed my staying with him till an 
account came of the return. 

Never was anything more honorable than the pro- 
ceedings upon this procuration; for in less than seven 
months I received a large packet from the survivors of 
my trustees, the merchants, for whose account I went 
to sea, in which were the following particular letters and 
papers inclosed. 

First, there was the account-current of the produce 
of my farm or plantation, from the year when their 
fathers had balanced with my old Portugal captain, 
being for six years; the balance appeared to be one 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


356 

thousand one hundred and seventy-four moidores in 
my favor. 

Secondly, there was the account of four years more, 
while they kept the effects in their hands, before the 
government claimed the administration, as being the 
effects of a person not to be found, which they called 
civil death; and the balance of this, the value of the 
plantation increasing, amounted to nineteen thousand 
four hundred and forty-six crusadoes, being about three 
thousand two hundred and forty moidores. 

Thirdly, there was the Prior of the Augustines’ 
account, who had received the profits for above fourteen 
years; but not being to account for what was disposed 
of by the hospital, very honestly declared he had eight 
hundred and seventy-two moidores not distributed, which 
he acknowledged to my account; as to the king’s part, 
that refunded nothing. 

There was also a letter of my partner’s, congratulating 
me very affectionately upon my being alive, giving me 
an account how the estate was improved, and what it 
produced a year; with the particulars of the number of 
squares or acres that it contained, how planted, how many 
slaves there were upon it: and making two-and-twenty 
crosses for blessings, told me he had said so many Ave 
Marias to thank the Blessed Virgin that I was alive; 
inviting me very passionately to come over and take 
possession of my own; and, in the meantime, to give 
him orders to whom he should deliver my effects, if I 
did not come myself; concluding with a hearty tender 
of his friendship, and that of his family; and sent me, 
as a present, seven fine leopards’ skins, which he had, it 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


357 


seems, received from Africa, by some other ship that 
he had sent thither, and which, it seems, had made a 
better voyage than I. He sent me also five chests of 
excellent sweetmeats, and a hundred pieces of gold 
uncoined, not quite so large as moidores. By the same 
fleet, my two merchants-trustees shipped me one thousand 
two hundred chests of sugar, eight hundred rolls of 
tobacco, and the rest of the whole account in gold. 

I might well say now, indeed, that the latter end of 
Job was better than the beginning. It is impossible to 
express the flutterings of my very heart when I looked 
over these letters, and especially when I found all my 
wealth about me; for, as the Brazil ships come all in 
fleets, the same ships which brought my letters brought 
my goods: and the effects were safe in the river before 
the letters came to my hand. In a word I turned pale, 
and grew sick; and, had not the old man run and fetched 
me a cordial, I believe the sudden surprise of joy had 
overset nature, and I had died upon the spot: nay, 
after that, I continued very ill, and was so some hours, 
till a physician being sent for, and something of the real 
cause of my illness being known, he ordered me to let 
blood; after which I had relief, and grew well: but I 
verily believe, if I had not been eased by the vent given 
in that manner to the spirits, I should have died. 

I was now master, all on a sudden, of above fifty 
thousand pounds sterling in money, and had an estate, 
as I might well call it, in the Brazils, of above a thousand 
pounds a year, as sure as an estate of lands in England; 
and, in a word, I was in a condition which I scarce knew 
how to understand, or how to compose myself for the 


358 


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enjoyment of. The first thing I did was to recompense 
my original benefactor, my good old captain, who had 
been first charitable to me in my distress, kind to me in 
the beginning, and honest to me at the end. I showed 
him all that was sent to me; I told him that, next to 
the providence of Heaven, which disposes all things, 
it was owing to him; and that it now lay on me to reward 
him, which I would do a hundred-fold; so I first returned 
to him the hundred moidores I had received of him, then 
I sent for a notary and caused him to draw up a general 
release or discharge from the four hundred and seventy 
moidores which he had acknowledged he owed me, in 
fullest and firmest manner possible. After which, I 
caused a procuration to be drawn, empowering him to 
be the receiver of the annual profits of my plantation; 
and appointing my partner to account him, and make 
the returns, by the usual fleets, to him in my name; 
and by a clause in the end, made a grant of one hundred 
moidores a year to him during his life, out of the effects, 
and fifty moidores a year to his son after him, for his 
life; and thus I requited my old man. 

I had now to consider which way to steer my course 
next, and what to do with the estate that Providence 
had thus put into my hands; and indeed, I had more 
care upon my head now than I had in my silent state of 
life in the island, where I wanted nothing but what I 
had, and had nothing but what I wanted; whereas I 
had now a great charge upon me, and my business was 
how to secure it. I had not a cave now to hide my 
money in, or a place where it might lie without lock or 
key, till it grew moldy and tarnished before anybody 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


359 


would meddle with it; on the contrary, I knew not where 
to put it. My old patron, the captain, indeed, was 
honest, and that was the only refuge I had. In the next 
place, my interest in the Brazils seemed to summon me 
thither; but now I could not tell how to think of going 
thither till I had settled my affairs, and left my effects 
in some safe hands behind me. At first I thought of 
my old friend the widow, who I knew was honest, and 
would be just to me; but then she was up in years, and 
but poor, and, for aught I knew, might be in debt; so 
that, in a word, I had no way but to go back to England 
myself, and take my effects with me. 

It was some months, however, before I resolved upon 
this; and therefore, as I had rewarded the old captain 
fully, and to his satisfaction, who had been my former 
benefactor, so I began to think of my poor widow, whose 
husband had been my first benefactor, and she, while it 
was in her power, my faithful steward and instructor. 
So, the first thing I did, I got a merchant in Lisbon to 
write to his correspondent in London not only to pay a 
bill, but to go find her out, and carry her in money a 
hundred pounds from me, and to talk with her, and com- 
fort her in her poverty, by telling her she should, if I lived, 
have a further supply: at the same time, I sent my two 
sisters in the country a hundred pounds each, they being, 
though not in want, yet not in very good circumstances; 
one having been married and left a widow; and the other 
having a husband not so kind to her as he should be. 
But, among all my relations or acquaintances, I could not 
yet pitch upon one to whom I durst commit the gross of 
my stock, that I might go away to the Brazils and leave 


360 


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things safe behind me; and this greatly perplexed me. 

I had once a mind to have gone to the Brazils, and have 
settled myself there, for I was, as it were, naturalized to 
the place ; but I had some little scruple in my mind about 
religion, which insensibly drew me back, of which I shall 
say more presently. However, it was not religion that 
kept me from going there for the present; and as I had 
made no scruple of being openly of the religion of the 
country all the while I was among them, so neither did I 
yet; only that, now and then, having of late thought 
more of it than formerly, when I began to think of living 
and dying among them, I began to regret my having pro- 
fessed myself a Papist, and thought it might not be the 
best religion to die with. 

But, as I have said, this was not the main thing that 
kept me from going to the Brazils, but that really I did 
not know with whom to leave my effects behind me; so I 
resolved at last to go to England with them, where, if I 
arrived, I concluded I should make some acquaintance, or 
find some relations, that would be faithful to me; and, 
accordingly, I prepared to go to England with all my 
wealth. 

In order to prepare things for my going home, I first 
(the Brazil fleet being just going away) resolved to give 
answers suitable to the just and faithful account of things 
I had from thence; and, first, to the Prior of St. Augus- 
tine, I wrote a letter full of thanks for his just dealings, 
and the offer of the eight hundred and seventy-two 
moidores which were undisposed of, which I desired might 
be given, five hundred to the monastery, and three 
hundred and seventy-two to the poor, as the prior should 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


361 


direct; desiring the good padre’s prayers for me, and the 
like. I wrote next a letter of thanks to my two trustees, 
with all the acknowledgment that so much justice and 
honesty called for: as for sending them any present, they 
were far above having any occasion of it. Lastly, I 
wrote to my partner, acknowledging his industry in the 
improving the plantation, and his integrity in increasing 
the stock of works, giving him instructions for his future 
government of my part, according to the powers I had 
left with my old patron; to whom I desired him to send 
whatever became due to me, till he should hear from me 
more particularly; assuring him that it was my intention 
not only to come to him, but to settle myself there for the 
remainder of my life. To this I added a very handsome 
present of some Italian silks for his wife and two 
daughters, for such the captain’s son informed me he 
had: with two pieces of fine English broadcloth, the 
best I could get in Lisbon, five pieces of black baize, and 
some Flanders lace of a good value. 

Having thus settled my affairs, sold my cargo, and 
turned all my effects into good bills of exchange, my next 
difficulty was which way to go to England. I had been 
accustomed enough to the sea, and yet I had a strange 
aversion to go to England by sea at that time; and 
though I could give no reason for it, yet the difficulty 
increased upon me so much that though I had once 
shipped my baggage in order to go, yet I altered my mind, 
and that not once, but two or three times. 

It is true I had been very unfortunate by sea, and that 
might be one of the reasons; but let no man slight the 
strong impulses of his own thoughts in cases of such 


362 


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moment; two of the ships which I had singled out to go 
in — I mean, more particularly singled out than any 
other — having put my things on board one of them, and 
in the other having agreed with the captain, I say two of 
these ships miscarried; viz., one was taken by the 
Algerines, and the other was cast away on the Start, near 
Torbay, and all the people drowned, except three; so that 
in either of those vessels I had been made miserable, in 
which most, it was hard to say. 

Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my old 
pilot, to whom I communicated everything, pressed me 
earnestly not to go by sea, but either to go by land to the 
Groyne, and cross over the Bay of Biscay to Rochelle, 
from whence it was but an easy and safe journey by land to 
Paris, and so to Calais and Dover; or to go up to Madrid, 
and so all the way by land through France. In a word, I 
was so prepossessed against my going by sea at all, except 
from Calais to Dover, that I resolved to travel all the way 
by land; which, as I was not in haste, and did not value 
the charge, was by much the pleasanter way. And to 
make it more so, my old captain brought an English 
gentleman, the son of a merchant in Lisbon, who was 
willing to travel with me; after which we picked up two 
more English merchants also, and two young Portuguese 
gentlemen, the last going to Paris only; so that in all 
there were six of us, and five servants; the two merchants 
and the two Portuguese contenting themselves with one 
servant between two, to save the charge; and as for me, 
I got an English sailor to travel with me as a servant, 
besides my man Friday, who was too much a stranger to be 
capable of supplying the place of a servant upon the road. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


363 


In this manner I set out from Lisbon; and our com- 
pany being very well mounted and armed, we made a little 
troop, whereof they did me the honor to call me captain, 
as well because I was the oldest man, as because I had 
two servants, and, indeed, was the origin of the whole 
journey. 

As I have troubled you with none of my sea journeys, 
so I shall trouble you with none of my land journeys; but 
some adventures that happened to us in this tedious and 
difficult journey I must not omit. 

When we came to Madrid, we, being all of us strangers 
to Spain, were willing to stay some time to see the court 
of Spain, and what was worth observing; but, it being 
the latter part of the summer, we hastened away, and set 
out from Madrid about the middle of October; but when 
we came to the edge of Navarre, we were alarmed, at 
several towns on the way, with an account that so much 
snow was fallen on the French side of the mountains that 
several travelers were obliged to come back to Pam- 
peluna, after having attempted at an extreme hazard to 
pass on. 

When we came to Pampeluna itself, we found it so 
indeed; and to me, that had been always used to a hot 
climate, and to countries where I could scarce bear any 
clothes on, the cold was insufferable; nor, indeed, was it 
more painful than it was surprising, to come but ten days 
before out of Old Castile, where the weather was not only 
warm but very hot, and immediately to feel a wind from 
the Pyrenean Mountains so very keen, so severely cold, as 
to be intolerable, and to endanger benumbing and perish- 
ing of our fingers and toes. 


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Poor Friday was really frightened when he saw the 
mountains all covered with snow, and felt cold weather, 
which he had never seen or felt before in his life. To 
mend the matter, after we came to Pampeluna it con- 
tinued snowing with so much violence, and so long, that 
the people said winter was come before its time; and the 
roads, which were difficult before, were now quite im- 
passable. In a word, the snow lay in some places too 
thick for us to travel, and being not hard frozen, as is the 
case in the northern countries, there was no going with- 
out being in danger of being buried alive every step. 
We stayed no less than twenty days at Pampeluna; when 
(seeing the winter coming on, and no likelihood of its 
being better, for it was the severest winter all over Europe 
that had been known in many years) I proposed that we 
should go away to Fontarabia, and there take shipping 
for Bordeaux, which was a very little voyage. But, 
while I was considering this, there came in four French 
gentlemen, who, having been stopped on the French side 
of the passes, as we were on the Spanish, had found out 
a guide, who, traversing the country near the head of 
Languedoc, had brought them over the mountains by 
such ways that they were not much incommoded with 
the snow, for where they met with snow in any quantity 
they said it was frozen hard enough to bear them and 
their horses. We sent for this guide, who told us he 
would undertake to carry us the same way, with no 
hazard from the snow, provided we were armed sufficiently 
to protect ourselves from wild beasts ; for, he said, in these 
great snows it was frequent for some wolves to show 
themselves at the foot of the mountains, being made 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


365 


ravenous for want of food, the ground being covered with 
snow. We told him we were well enough prepared for 
such creatures as they were, if he would insure us from a 
kind of two-legged wolves, which, we were told, we were 
in most danger from, especially on the French side of the 
mountains. He satisfied us that there was no danger of 
that kind in the way that we were to go; so we readily 
agreed to follow him, as did also twelve other gentlemen, 
with their servants, some French, some Spanish, who, as 
I said, had attempted to go, and were obliged to come 
back again. 

Accordingly, we set out from Pampeluna with our guide 
on the 15th of November; and, indeed, I was surprised, 
when, instead of going forward, he came directly back 
with us on the same road that we came from Madrid, 
about twenty miles; when, having passed two rivers, 
and come into the plain country, we found ourselves in a 
warm climate again, where the country was pleasant, and 
no snow to be seen; but, on a sudden, turning to his left, 
he approached the mountains another way; and though 
it is true the hills and precipices looked dreadful, yet he 
made so many tours, such meanders, and led us by such 
winding ways, that we insensibly passed the height of the 
mountains without being much encumbered with the 
snow; and, all of a sudden, he showed us the pleasant and 
fruitful provinces of Languedoc and Gascony, all green 
and flourishing, though, indeed, they were at a great 
distance, and we had some rough way to pass still. 

We were a little uneasy, however, when we found it 
snowed one whole day and a night so fast that we could 
not travel; but he bid us be easy; we should soon be past 


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it all. We found, indeed, that we began to descend every 
day, and to come more north than before; and so, 
depending upon our guide, we went on. 

It was about two hours before night, when, our guide 
being something before us, and not just in sight, out 
rushed three monstrous wolves, and after them a bear, 
from a hollow way adjoining to a thick wood; two of the 
wolves flew upon the guide, and, had he been far before us 
he would have been devoured before we could have helped 
him; one of them fastened upon his horse, and the other 
attacked the man with such violence that he had not time 
or presence of mind enough to draw his pistol, but 
hallooed and cried out to us most lustily. My man 
Friday being next me, I bade him ride up and see what 
was the matter. As soon as Friday came in sight of the 
man, he hallooed out as loud as the other, “Oh, master! 
Oh, master!” but, like a bold fellow, rode directly up to 
the man, and with his pistol shot the wolf that attacked 
him in the head. 

It was happy for the poor man that it was my man 
Friday; for, having been used to such creatures in his 
country, he had no fear upon him, but went close up to 
him and shot him; whereas, any other of us would have 
fired at a farther distance, and have perhaps either missed 
the wolf, or endangered shooting the man. 

But it was enough to have terrified a bolder man than 
I ; and, indeed, it alarmed all our company, when, with 
the noise of Friday’s pistol, we heard on both sides the 
most dismal howling of wolves; and the noise, redoubled 
by the echo of the mountains, that it was to us as if there 
had been a prodigious number of them ; and perhaps there 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


367 


were not such a few as that we had no cause of apprehen- 
sion; however, as Friday had killed this wolf, the other, 
that had fastened upon the horse, left him immediately, 
and fled, without doing him any damage, having happily 
fastened upon his head, where the bosses of the bridle had 
stuck in his teeth. But the man was most hurt; for the 
raging creature had bit him twice, once in the arm, and 
the other time a little above the knee; he was just, as it 
were, tumbling down by the disorder of his horse, when 
Friday came up and shot the wolf. 

It is easy to suppose that at the noise of Friday’s pistol 
we all mended our pace, and rode up as fast as the way, 
which was very difficult, would give us leave, to see what 
was the matter. As soon as we came clear of the trees, 
which blinded us before, we saw plainly what had been 
the case, and how Friday had disengaged the poor guide, 
though we did not presently discern what kind of creature 
it was he had killed. 

But never was a fight managed so hardily, and in such 
a surprising manner, as that which followed between Fri- 
day and the bear, which gave us all, though at first we 
were surprised and afraid for him, the greatest diversion 
imaginable. As the bear is a heavy, clumsy creature, and 
does not gallop as the wolf does, which is swift and light, 
so he has two particular qualities, which generally are the 
rule of his actions; first, as to men, who are not his 
proper prey (he does not usually attempt them, except 
they first attack him, unless he be excessively hungry, 
which it is probable might now be the case, the ground 
being covered with snow) ; if you do not meddle with him, 
he will not meddle with you. But then you must take 


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care to be very civil to him, and give him the road, for he 
is a very nice gentleman. He will not go a step out of his 
way for a prince; nay, if you are really afraid, your best 
way is to look another way and keep going on. For 
sometimes, if you stop and stand still, and look stead- 
fastly at him, he takes it for an affront; but if you throw 
or toss anything at him, and it hits him, though it were 
but a bit of stick as big as your finger, he takes it for an 
affront, and sets all other business aside to pursue his 
revenge, and will have satisfaction in point of honor — 
that is his first quality; the next is, that if he be once 
affronted he will never leave you, night or day, till he has 
had his revenge, but follow at a good round rate till he 
overtakes you. 

My man Friday had delivered our guide, and when we 
came up to him he was helping him off from his horse, for 
the man was both hurt and frightened, and indeed the last 
more than the first, when on a sudden we espied the bear 
come out of the wood, and a vast, monstrous one it was, 
the biggest by far that ever I saw. We were all a little 
surprised when we saw him; but when Friday saw him it 
was easy to see joy and courage in the fellow’s counte- 
nance. “Oh, oh, oh,” says Friday, three times, pointing 
to him; “oh, master! you give me te leave, me shakee te 
hand with him; me make you good laugh.” 

I was surprised to see the fellow so pleased. “You 
fool,” said I, “he will eat you up.” “ Eatee me up ! eatee 
me up!” says Friday, twice over again; “me eatee him 
up; me makee you good laugh. You all stay here, me 
show you good laugh.” So down he sits, and gets his 
boot off in a moment, and puts on a pair of pumps (as we 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


369 

call the flat shoes they wear, and which he had in his 
pocket), gives my other servant his horse, and with his 
gun away he flew, swift like the wind. 

The bear was walking softly on, and offered to meddle 
with nobody, till Friday coming pretty near, calls to him, 
as if the bear could understand him, “Hark ye, hark ye,’’ 
says Friday, “me speakee with you.’’ We followed at a 
distance, for now, being come down to the Gascony side 
of the mountains, we were entered a vast, great forest, 
where the country was plain and pretty open, though it 
had many trees in it scattered here and there. Friday, 
who had, as we say, the heels of the bear, came up with 
him quickly, and took up a great stone, and threw it at 
him, and hit him just on the head, but did him no more 
harm than if he had thrown it against a wall; but it 
answered Friday’s end, for the rogue was so void of fear 
that he did it purely to make the bear follow him, and 
show us some laugh, as he called it. As soon as the bear 
felt the stone, and saw him, he turned about, and came 
after him, taking very long strides, and shuffling on at a 
strange rate, so as would have put a horse to a middling 
gallop; away runs Friday, and takes his course as if he 
ran towards us for help; so we all resolved to fire at once 
upon the bear, and deliver my man ; though I was angry 
at him heartily for bringing the bear back upon us, when 
he was going about his own business another way. And 
especially I was angry that he had turned the bear upon 
us, and then run away. And I called out, “You dog!” 
said I, “is this your making us laugh! Come away, and 
take your horse, that we may shoot the creature.” He 
heard me, and cried out, “No shoot, no shoot. Stand still, 
24 


370 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


you get much laugh”; and as the nimble creature ran 
two feet for the beast’s one, he turned on a sudden on one 
side of us, and seeing a great oak tree fit for his purpose, 
he beckoned us to follow; and doubling his pace, he got 
nimbly up the tree, laying his gun down upon the ground 
at about five or six yards from the bottom of the tree. 
The bear soon came to the tree, and we followed at a dis- 
tance; the first thing he did he stopped at the gun, 
smelled at it, but let it lie, and up he scrambles into the 
tree, climbing like a cat, though so monstrous heavy. I 
was amazed at the folly, as I thought it, of my man, and 
could not for my life see anything to laugh at yet, till, 
seeing the bear get up the tree, we all rode near to him. 

When we came to the tree there was Friday got out to 
the small end of a large limb of the tree, and the bear got 
about halfway to him. As soon as the bear got out to 
that part where the limb of the tree was weaker — “Ha!” 
says he to us, “now you see me teachee the bear dance” ; 
so he began jumping and shaking the bough, at which the 
bear began to totter, but stood still, and began to look 
behind him, to see how he should get back; then, indeed, 
we did laugh heartily. But Friday had not done with 
him by a great deal; when seeing him stand still, he called 
out to him again, as if he had supposed the bear could 
speak English, “What, you no come farther? Pray you, 
come farther ” ; so he left jumping and shaking the bough ; 
and the bear, just as if he had understood what he said, 
did come a little farther. Then he began jumping again, 
and the bear stopped again. We thought now was a good 
time to knock him on the head, and called to Friday to 
stand still, and we would shoot the bear. But he cried 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


37i 


out earnestly, “Oh, pray! Oh, pray! No shoot, me shoot 
by and then ” ; he would have said by and by. However, 
to shorten the story, Friday danced so much, and the bear 
stood so ticklish, that we had laughing enough indeed, 
but still could not imagine what the fellow would do; for 
first we thought he depended upon shaking the bear off; 
and we found the bear was too cunning for that too, for 
he would not go out far enough to be thrown down, but 
clung fast with great broad claws and feet, so that we 
could not imagine what would be the end of it, and what 
the jest would be at last. But Friday put us out of doubt 
quickly: for seeing the bear cling fast to the bough, and 
that he would not be persuaded to come any farther, 
“Well, well,” says Friday, “you no come farther, me go; 
you no come to me, me come to you” ; and upon this he 
went out to the smaller end of the bough, where it would 
bend with his weight, and gently let himself down by it, 
sliding down the bough till he came near enough to jump 
down on his feet, and away he ran to his gun, took it up, 
and stood still. “Well,” said I to him, “Friday, what 
will you do now! Why don’t you shoot him!” “No 
shoot,” says Friday, ‘ ‘ no yet. Me shoot now, me no kill ; 
me stay, give you one more laugh”; and, indeed, so he 
did, as you will see presently. For when the bear saw his 
enemy gone, he came back from the bough where he stood, 
but did it very cautiously, looking behind him every step, 
and coming backward till he got into the body of the tree; 
then, with the same hinder end foremost, he came down 
the tree, grasping it with his claws, and moving one foot 
at a time, very leisurely. At this juncture, and just before 
he could set his hind feet upon the ground, Friday stepped 


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up close to him, clapped the muzzle of his piece into his 
ear, and shot him dead as a stone. Then the rogue 
turned about to see if we did not laugh. And when he saw 
we were pleased, by our looks, he began to laugh very 
loud. “So we killed bear in my country,” says Friday. 
“So you kill them?” says I; “why, you have no guns.” 
“No,” says he, “no gun, but shoot great much long 
arrow.” This was a good diversion to us; but we were 
still in a wild place, and our guide very much hurt, and 
what to do we hardly knew. The howling of wolves ran 
much in my head; and indeed, except the noise I once 
heard on the shore of Africa, of which I have said some- 
thing already, I never heard anything that filled me with 
so much horror. 

These things, and the approach of night, called us off, 
or else, as Friday would have had us, we should cer- 
tainly have taken the skin of this monstrous creature 
off, which was worth saving; but we had near three 
leagues to go, and our guide hastened us; so we left 
him, and went forward on our journey. 

The ground was still covered with snow, though not 
so deep and dangerous as on the mountains; and the 
ravenous creatures, as we heard afterwards, were come 
down into the forest and plain country, pressed by 
hunger, to seek for food, and had done a great deal of 
mischief in the villages, where they surprised the country 
people, killing a great many of their sheep and horses, 
and some people too. We had one dangerous place to 
pass, and our guide told us if there were more wolves 
in the country we should find them there; and this 
was a small plain surrounded with woods on every side, 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


373 


and a long narrow defile, or lane, which we were to pass 
to get through the wood, and then we should come to 
the village where we were to lodge. It was within half 
an hour of sunset when we entered the wood, and a little 
after sunset when we came into the plain; we met nothing 
in the first wood, except that in a little plain within the 
wood, which was not above two furlongs over, we saw 
five great wolves cross the road, full speed, one after 
another, as if they had been in chase of some prey, and 
had it in view; they took no notice of us, and were gone 
out of sight in a few moments. Upon this, our guide, 
who, by the way, was a faint-hearted fellow, bid us keep 
in a ready posture, for he believed there were more 
wolves a-coming. We kept our arms ready and our 
eyes about us; but we saw no more wolves till we came 
through that wood, which was near a half a league, 
and entered the plain. As soon as we came into the 
plain, we had occasion enough to look about us. The 
first object we met with was a dead horse; that is to 
say a poor horse which the wolves had killed, and at 
least a dozen of them at work, we could not say eating 
him, but picking his bones rather; for they had eaten 
up all the flesh before. We did not think fit to disturb 
them at their feast, neither did they take much notice of 
us. Friday would have let fly at them, but I would not 
suffer him by any means ; for I found we were like to have 
more business upon our hands than we were aware of. 
We had not gone half over the plain when we began to 
hear the wolves howl in the wood on our left in a frightful 
manner, and presently after we saw about a hundred 
coming on directly towards us, all in a body, and most of 


374 


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them in a line as regularly as an army drawn up by experi- 
enced officers. I scarce knew in what manner to receive 
them, but found to draw ourselves in a close line was the 
only way; so we formed in a moment; but that we might 
not have too much interval, I ordered that only every 
other man should fire, and that the others, who had not 
fired, should stand ready to give them a second volley 
immediately, if they continued to advance upon us; and 
then that those who had fired at first should not pretend 
to load their fusees again, but stand ready, every one with 
a pistol, for we were all armed with a fusee and a pair of 
pistols each man. So we were, by this method, able to 
fire six volleys, half of us at a time. However, at present 
we had no necessity; for upon firing the first volley the 
enemy made a full stop, being terrified as well with the 
noise as with the fire. Four of them being shot in the 
head, dropped; several others were wounded, and went 
bleeding off, as we could see by the snow. I found they 
stopped, but did not immediately retreat. Whereupon, 
remembering that I had been told that the fiercest 
creatures were terrified at the voice of a man, I caused all 
the company to halloo as loud as we could; and I found 
the notion not altogether mistaken, for upon our shout 
they began to retire and turn about. I then ordered a 
second volley to be fired in their rear, which put them to 
the gallop, and away they went to the woods. This gave 
us leisure to charge our pieces again; and that we might 
lose no time, we kept going. But we had but little more 
than loaded our fusees, and put ourselves in readiness, 
when we heard a terrible noise in the same wood on our 
left, only that it was farther onward, the same way we 
were to go. 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


375 


The night was coming on, and the light began to be 
dusky, which made it the worse on our side. But the 
noise increasing, we could easily perceive that it was the 
howling and yelling of those hellish creatures, and, on a 
sudden, we perceived two or three troops of wolves, one 
on our left, one behind us, and one in our front, so that 
we seemed to be surrounded with them. However, as 
they did not fall upon us we kept our way forward, as 
fast as we could make our horses go, which, the way being 
very rough, was only a good hard trot. In this manner 
we came in view of the entrance of a wood, through which 
we were to pass, at the farther side of the plain; but we 
were greatly surprised when, coming near the lane or pass, 
we saw a confused number of wolves standing just at the 
entrance. On a sudden, at another opening of the wood, 
we heard the noise of a gun, and looking that way, out 
rushed a horse, with a saddle and a bridle on him, flying 
like the wind, and sixteen or seventeen wolves after him 
full speed. Indeed, the horse had the advantage of them; 
but as we supposed that he could not hold it at that rate, 
we doubted not but they would get up with him at last: 
and no question but they did. 

But here we had a most horrible sight; for, riding up 
to the entrance where the horse came out, we found the 
carcasses of another horse, and of two men, devoured by 
the ravenous creatures ; and one of the men was no doubt 
the same whom we heard fire the gun, for there lay a gun 
just by him fired off ; but as to the man, his head and the 
upper part of his body were eaten up. This filled us with 
horror, and we knew not what course to take; but the 
creatures resolved us soon, for they gathered about us 


376 


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presently, in hopes of prey; and I verily believe there 
were three hundred of them. It happened, very much to 
our advantage, that at the entrance into the wood, but a 
little way from it, there lay some large timber trees, 
which had been cut down the summer before, and I sup- 
pose lay there for carriage. I drew my little troop in 
among those trees, and placing ourselves in a line behind 
one long tree, I advised them all to alight, and keeping 
that tree before us for a breastwork, to stand in a triangle, 
or three fronts, inclosing our horses in the center. We 
did so, and it was well we did ; for never was a more furious 
charge than the creatures made upon us in this place. 
They came on us with a growling kind of a noise, and 
mounted the piece of timber, which, as I said, was our 
breastwork, as if they were only rushing upon their prey; 
and this fury of theirs, it seems, was principally occa- 
sioned by their seeing our horses behind us, which was the 
prey they aimed at. I ordered our men to fire as before, 
every other man; and they took their aim so sure that 
indeed they killed several of the wolves at the first volley. 
But there was a necessity to keep a continual firing, for 
they came on like devils, those behind pushing on those 
before. 

When we had fired a second volley of our fusees we 
thought they stopped a little, and I hoped they would 
have gone off, but it was but a moment, for others came 
forward again. So we fired two volleys of our pistols, 
and I believe in these four firings we had killed seventeen 
or eighteen of them, and lamed twice as many, yet they 
came on again. I was loath to spend our last shot too 
hastily; so I called my servant — not my man Friday, for 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


3 77 


he was better employed, for, with the greatest dexterity 
imaginable, he had charged my fusee and his own while 
we were engaged — but, as I said, I called my other man, 
and giving him a horn of powder, I bade him lay a train 
all along the piece of timber and let it be a large train. 
He did so, and had but just time to get away, when the 
wolves came up to it, and some got upon it, when I, 
snapping an uncharged pistol close to the powder, set it 
on fire; those that were upon the timber were scorched 
with it, and six or seven of them fell, or rather jumped in 
among us with the force and fright of the fire: we dis- 
patched these in an instant, and the rest were so fright- 
ened with the light, which the night — for it was now very 
dark — made more terrible, that they drew back a little; 
upon which I ordered our last pistols to be fired off in one 
volley, and after that we gave a shout, upon this the 
wolves turned tail, and we sallied immediately upon near 
twenty lame ones that we found struggling on the ground, 
and fell to cutting them with our swords, which answered 
our expectation, for the crying and howling they made 
was better understood by their fellows; so that they all 
fled and left us. 

We had, first and last, killed about threescore of them, 
and had it been daylight we had killed many more. The 
field of battle being thus cleared, we made forward again, 
for we had still near a league to go. We heard the raven- 
ous creatures howl and yell in the woods as we went, 
several times, and sometimes we fancied we saw some of 
them; but the snow dazzling our eyes, we were not 
certain. So in about an hour more we came to the town 
where we were to lodge, which we found in a terrible 


378 


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fright, and all in arms; for it seems that the night before 
the wolves and some bears had broke into the village and 
put them in such terror that they were obliged to keep 
guard night and day, but especially in the night, to pre- 
serve their cattle, and indeed their people. 

The next morning our guide was so ill, and his limbs 
swelled so much with the rankling of his two wounds, 
that he could go no farther; so we were obliged to take a 
new guide here, and go to Toulouse, where we found a 
warm climate, a fruitful, pleasant country, and no snow, 
no wolves, nor anything like them; but when we told our 
story at Toulouse they told us it was nothing but what 
was ordinary in the great forest at the foot of the moun- 
tains, especially when the snow lay on the ground. But 
they inquired much what kind of a guide we had got, who 
would venture to bring us that way in such a severe sea- 
son, and told us it was surprising we were not all devoured. 
When we told them how we placed ourselves and the 
horses in the middle, they blamed us exceedingly, and told 
us it was fifty to one we had been all destroyed, for it was 
the sight of the horses which made the wolves so furious, 
seeing their prey, and that at other times they are really 
afraid of a gun; but being excessively hungry, and raging 
on that account, the eagerness to come at the horses had 
made them senseless of danger; and that if we had not, 
by the continued fire, and at last by the stratagem of the 
train of powder, mastered them, it had been great odds 
but that we had been tom to pieces. Whereas, had we 
been content to have sat still on horseback, and fired as 
horsemen, they would not have taken the horses so much 
for their own, when men were on their backs, as other- 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


379 


wise. And, withal, they told us that at last, if we had 
stood all together, and left our horses, they would have 
been so eager to have devoured them, that we might have 
come off safe, especially having our firearms in our hands, 
and being so many in number. For my part, I was never 
so sensible of danger in my life; for, seeing above three 
hundred devils come roaring and open-mouthed to devour 
us, and having nothing to shelter us or retreat to, I gave 
myself over for lost; and, as it was, I believe I shall never 
care to cross those mountains again. I think I would 
much rather go a thousand leagues by sea, though I was 
sure to meet with a storm once a week. 

I have nothing uncommon to take notice of in my 
passage through France — nothing but what other travel- 
ers have given an account of with much more advantage 
than I can. I traveled from Toulouse to Paris, and with- 
out any considerable stay came to Calais, and landed 
safe at Dover the 14th of January, after having a severe 
cold season to travel in. 

I was now come to the center of my travels, and had in 
a little time all my new discovered estate safe about me, 
the bills of exchange which I brought with me having 
been very currently paid. 

My principal guide and privy counselor was my good 
ancient widow, who, in gratitude for the money I had 
sent her, thought no pains too much, nor care too great, 
to employ for me; and I trusted her so entirely with 
everything, that I was perfectly easy as to the security of 
my effects; and, indeed, I was very happy from the 
beginning, and now to the end, in the unspotted integrity 
of this good gentlewoman. 


38 o 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


And now, having resolved to dispose of my plantation 
in the Brazils, I wrote to my old friend at Lisbon, who, 
having offered it to the two merchants, the survivors of 
my trustees, who lived in the Brazils, they accepted the 
offer, and remitted thirty-three thousand pieces of eight 
to a correspondent of theirs at Lisbon to pay for it. 

In return, I signed the instrument of sale in the form 
which they sent from Lisbon, and sent it to my old man, 
who sent me the bills of exchange for thirty-two thousand 
eight hundred pieces of eight for the estate, reserving the 
payment of one hundred moidores a year to him (the old 
man) during his life, and fifty moidores afterwards to his 
son for his life, which I had promised them, and which 
the plantation was to make good as a rent-charge. And 
-thus I have given the first part of a life of fortune and 
adventure — a life of Providence’s checker work, and of a 
variety which the world will seldom be able to show the 
like of —beginning foolishly, but closing much more 
happily than any part of it ever gave me leave so much 
as to hope for. 

Any one would think that in this state of complicated 
good fortune I was past running any more hazards: and 
so, indeed, I had been, if other circumstances had con- 
curred. But I was inured to a wandering life, had no 
family, nor many relations; nor, however rich, had I con- 
tracted much acquaintance; and though I had sold my 
estate in the Brazils, yet I could not keep that country 
out of my head, and had a great mind to be upon the 
wing again; especially, I could not resist the strong 
inclination I had to see my island, and to know if the poor 
Spaniards were in being there. My true friend, the 


ROBINSON CRUSOE 


38i 


widow, earnestly dissuaded me from it, and so far pre- 
vailed with me that for almost seven years she prevented 
my running abroad, during which time I took my two 
nephews, the children of one of my brothers, into my care ; 
the eldest, having something of his own, I bred up as a 
gentleman, and gave him a settlement of some addition to 
his estate after my decease. The other I placed with the 
captain of a ship; and, after five years, finding him a sen- 
sible, bold, enterprising young fellow, I put him into a 
good ship, and sent him to sea; and this young fellow 
afterwards drew me in, as old as I was, to farther adven- 
tures myself. 

In the meantime I in part settled myself here; for, first 
of all, I married, and that not either to my disadvantage 
or dissatisfaction, and had three children, two sons and 
one daughter; but my wife dying, and my nephew com- 
ing home with good success from a voyage to Spain, my 
inclination to go abroad, and his importunity, prevailed, 
and engaged me to go in his ship as a private trader to the 
East Indies. This was in the year 1694. 

In this voyage I visited my new colony in the island; 
saw my successors, the Spaniards; had the whole story of 
their lives, and of the villains I left there; how at first 
they insulted the poor Spaniards; how they afterwards 
agreed, disagreed, united, separated, and how at last the 
Spaniards were obliged to use violence with them; how 
they were subjected to the Spaniards; how honestly the 
Spaniards used them — a history, if it were entered into, 
as full of variety and wonderful accidents as my own 
part; particularly, also, as to their battles with the 
Caribbeans, who landed several times upon the island, 


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and as to the improvement they made upon the island 
itself — and how five of them made an attempt upon the 
mainland, and brought away eleven men and five women 
prisoners, by which, at my coming, I found about twenty 
young children on the island. 

Here I stayed about twenty days — left them supplies 
of all necessary things, and particularly of arms, powder, 
shot, clothes, tools, and two workmen, which I brought 
from England with me — viz., a carpenter and a smith. 

Besides this, I shared the lands into parts with them, 
reserved to myself the property of the whole, but gave 
them such parts respectively as they agreed on; and 
having settled all things with them, and engaged them 
not to leave the place, I left them there. 

From thence I touched at the Brazils, from whence I 
sent a bark, which I bought there, with more people to 
the island; and in it, besides other supplies, I sent seven 
women, being such as I found proper for service, or for 
wives to such as would take them. As to the English- 
men, I promised them to send them some women from 
England, with a good cargo of necessaries, if they would 
apply themselves to planting — which I afterwards could 
not perform. The fellows proved very honest and diligent 
after they were mastered, and had their properties set 
apart for them. I sent them, also, from the Brazils, five 
cows, three of them being big with calf, some sheep, some 
hogs, which when I came again were considerably 
increased. 























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